Three Years
by md1347
Summary: It's been three years since Noah has left Oakdale.
1. Chapter 1

**Three Years**

By Mike Douglas

_Special thanks to nezabudka1 for help with editing the story._

Rating: NC-17 (Adult Language, STRONG Sexual Situations – gay sex)

_Disclaimer: Luke, Noah, and all related characters, plots, and locations are property of As the World Turns, Telenext Media, and CBS Television. No profit is made from this fan creation. No copyright infringement is intended!_

-P-

It has been three years since Noah left Oakdale and moved to Los Angeles to make a movie. He has been waiting those three years for Luke but he never came. After six months of living in Los Angeles, Luke began to ignore all contact from Noah and to make it worse, Luke's family wouldn't return any calls either. After a year, he gave up on the idea that Luke would ever come to Los Angeles to be with him. Those three very long years have been hard for Noah in his personal life but in his business, life was great.

Noah looked over at the man sleeping in his bed. He has been having a two-month sexual affair with a man that he met at the gym. He would swear it was Dallas Griffin, an Oakdale police officer, but Nathan said he was a salesman from Las Vegas who came to Los Angeles twice a month on business.

-P-

Two months earlier, the first time he met Nathan was at the gym down the street from Noah's apartment. Noah had just finished working out when he saw Nathan walking into the gym and looking around.

"Dallas?" called out Noah as he walked up to an African American male who he thought was a police officer from Oakdale.

Nathan was startled as he turned to see who was talking and saw Noah walking up to him.

"Dallas, is that you?"

"No, sorry, you must have me confused with someone else. My name is Nathan."

Noah was disappointed but at the same time, he was relieved not to run into anyone from Oakdale. "I'm sorry. You look like someone I used to know. My name is Noah." He shook Nathan's hand. "I swear you could be his clone." Noah laughed.

"Well, he must be hot," Nathan smirked.

"That's for sure . . . uh . . . I mean, you must be right," Noah tried to hide the slip of the tongue but Nathan noticed it.

Tony, the owner of the gym walked up to Noah and Nathan. "Nathan, are you ready for your tour?"

"Sure, it was nice to meet you Noah," Nathan said to Noah.

"Tony, I can give Nathan a tour. I just finished my workout," Noah hoped that Tony would say yes.

"I don't mind," Nathan looked at Tony.

Noah volunteering to give Nathan a tour surprised Tony. Noah was not the same person he was when he first joined the gym. Guys hit on Noah all the time. After all, he was a hot young man. Noah would nicely turn them all down but he had changed about two years ago when he got a tattoo of the word 'taken' over his heart. He closed down emotionally to just about everyone except for a few friends and little Lu but that was different story of course. Tony tried to ask Noah about it a few time but Noah would just shoot down his inquiry every time. Everyone in the gym knew not to bother Noah.

"Sure, Noah. If you have any questions, I'll be at the front desk," Tony had a big smile on his face.

"Thanks, Tony," said Nathan as he started walking away with Noah.

Tony smiled as he saw Noah and Nathan walk away. He heard Noah talking to Nathan about the gym, pointing things out before Tony turned around and went back up to the front desk. "You are one lucky son of a bitch, Nathan. Noah is one hot drink of a man and well, you are too," he thought to himself.

-P-

Fifteen minutes later, the tour ended in the locker room.

"You've been so nice, how about I buy you dinner?" Nathan was hoping that Noah would say yes.

"You don't have to do that," Noah tried to get out of it.

"But I would like to," Nathan was being insistent.

"Oh, what the hell," thought Noah.

"Sure but let me get changed." Noah stepped up to his locker and took off his shirt. He could see Nathan looking him over out of the corner of his eye. Noah was surprised that he was starting to get a little excited by the prospect of Nathan looking at him get changed but he was also scared. He hasn't wanted to be with a man other than Luke before but there was something about Nathan that turned him on.

Noah dropped his shorts and was standing there with only his jock on. He knew Nathan was right behind him, just staring at him. He could feel Nathan's eyes roaming around his nearly naked body.

"You know, Noah, you are in great shape," Nathan was now standing directly behind Noah.

Noah could feel his breath on the back of his neck. It was causing Noah's penis to start lengthening. Noah could not say anything for a couple of seconds but was finally able to speak. "Thanks."

Nathan reached out with both hands and touched Noah's shoulders. Noah's body instantly shivered. Nathan began to move his hands around, trying to feel all of Noah's shoulder muscles and then moved his hands down onto his arms to feel his biceps and triceps. He moved his hands back up to Noah's shoulders and then ran them down his torso. Noah's breathing became shallower the longer Nathan ran his hands over his body.

"You really have a hot body, Noah," Nathan whispered into his ear.

All this attention from Nathan was scaring Noah. He did not feel he was ready to get into another relationship with anyone but he certainly could not deny what Nathan was doing to his body. "Listen," Noah turned to face Nathan, "I think we should get going. I need to eat within an hour, or my work out was all for shit."

Nathan stared at the front of Noah's body and especially his full jock until Noah put on a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt.

"There is a great restaurant down the street that we can go to," Noah nervously gathered up everything he needed.

"That sounds fine. I do not know the area that well."

Noah and Nathan walked out of the gym and down to the restaurant down the street. They sat down at a table and placed their order with the waitress.

"So what do you do for a living, Noah?" Nathan was trying to get Noah to open up.

"I'm a film director. I work for a film company here in Los Angeles,"

"That's great. Noah, I have to tell you that you are one hot man."

Noah blushed at Nathan's compliment.

"You're hot too but I'm not really interested in a relationship with anyone at this point in my life," Noah was trying to be truthful and upfront.

"I'm not looking for a relationship either, just some companionship, if you know what I mean."

Noah was shocked by his response. "I do but I'm not sure I want a fuck buddy either."

"We can be friends though, can't we?"

"We sure can," Noah thought Nathan was a nice enough person. "You can even drop by my place if you want."

"That would be great. I need to stop at the drugstore that is next door," Nathan left some cash on the table. "You pay and I'll meet you outside."

-P-

Noah opened the door to his apartment and turned on the lights. Nathan followed him in and took a quick look around.

Nathan looked around the room. "Wow, this place is pretty big."

"Yes, but I use it for work as well," Noah put down his gym bag next to his bedroom. "Beer okay?"

"That's fine," replied Nathan.

Noah retrieved Nathan a beer, himself a bottle of water, and they went upstairs to the rooftop deck.

"Wow, look at the view. It's great," Nathan drank his beer.

They talked about nothing important for some time, when Nathan put down his beer bottle and walked up behind Noah, like he did at the gym. He put both his hands on Noah's waist and pushed his crotch into Noah's ass.

"I'm really not ready for this, Nathan," Noah's fear overtook his voice.

"It's okay, Noah. I won't do anything you're not comfortable with," replied Nathan. "But do you know how sexy you are? I'm about to cum in my pants just from touching you."

"I haven't been with anyone in three years," Noah said softly.

"It's okay, Noah," Nathan began to kiss Noah's neck.

Noah began to moan from all the touching and kissing. Nathan made the big move, took off Noah's t-shirt, and began to rub his hands all over Noah's pecks and abs. Noah could feel Nathan's dick getting larger as it rubbed along his ass and it wasn't long before Nathan took off his own shirt and turned Noah around to face him.

Noah looked down at Nathan's naked chest. He brought his hands up and found that Nathan reacted positively to having his nipples played with.

"You like that don't you bitch?" Noah said with broad smile on his face.

"Yes, sir," Nathan was able to moan before he put his hand behind Noah's head and pulled him into a deep kiss. His tongue rubbed against Noah's teeth until Noah unclenched his jaw and let Nathan's tongue slip into his mouth. Noah took his hands and started to feel all around Nathan's body as Nathan took his own right hand and shoved it down the back of Noah's shorts and began rubbing his finger along the crack of Noah's ass. This caused Noah to moan even more loudly and he pushed his body more against Nathan's. He felt Nathan's monster cock rub along his. It felt like an electric shock to Noah but it only turned him on even more.

Nathan took his hand out of Noah's shorts, brought them around to the front of his shorts, and began to unbutton them but Noah stopped him.

"Nathan, I'm not sure . . . ." began Noah as he stepped back a little.

Nathan pulled Noah into a deep kiss again and drew his body against his own, causing Noah to stop protesting. A few minutes later, he tried to undo Noah's pants again but this time Noah's answer was different.

"Not here," Noah grabbed Nathan's hand and pulled him towards the door.

Nathan was smiling behind Noah and he knew Noah would be his. He could tell it was going to be one hot night. When they got to Noah's bedroom, he reached for Noah's shorts again. This time, Noah didn't protest and he let Nathan slip off his shorts. Nathan left Noah's jock on.

Nathan dropped to his knees and ran his hands up and down Noah's thighs. He ran his tongue around Noah's abs and down his wide pleasure trail until he came to his jock covered dick. Noah reached down and started playing with Nathan's nipples that protruded out from his large muscular pecks. This only seemed to drive Nathan more wild. Nathan took his tongue and ran it around Noah's jock, dampening the jock. He then reached up and pulled it aside letting Noah's ample nine inches fall out.

"Nice," Nathan said huskily to Noah. Noah just about jumped when Nathan began to run his tongue up and down his cock but soon Nathan had sucked it into his mouth and was taking Noah cock all the way down his throat. Noah took his hands and put them on each side of Nathan's head and began to thrust himself fully into Nathan's mouth. After almost four years without sex, it didn't take Noah long to orgasm.

"Take it bitch!" moaned Noah, as he flooded Nathan's throat with his seed.

Noah's trash mouth only turned Nathan on more and Nathan happily took Noah's seed as he knew it wouldn't be the only time Noah would cum tonight. After he made sure he had all of Noah's seed, he let Noah's cock slip out of his mouth and he got up and planted a deep kiss on Noah as Noah began to push Nathan up against the wall, reaching for Nathan's pants and sliding them down his hips releasing his hardon.

"That's some cock you have there, Nathan," Noah was impressed with its size.

"You're going to take it all bitch!" Nathan said with full confidence.

Noah's eyes seemed to have a fire in them as he started licking and kissing down Nathan's body. He tweaked and sucked on Nathan's nipples which caused Nathan to shake with passion. He continued to manipulate them with his hands as he licked and kissed down his six-pack abs and to his crotch area. Just as Nathan had done, he ran his tongue up and down Nathan's cock.

"How the hell am I going to take that shit?" Noah thought to himself. Luke had eight inches but this guy has at least two more inches but the width was similar.

Noah lowered his mouth down to the tip of Nathan's cock and started to suck it into his mouth. He got about half way down the shaft before he started to choke.

"That's it bitch, choke on that shit," Nathan had a lot of passion in his voice.

Nathan's dirty talk only made Noah more determined to take it all. A few minutes later, Noah was able to take about three quarters of his cock but he soon felt Nathan's hand on the side of his head and he knew what was coming.

"Come on bitch, take it all," as he pushed Noah's head towards his crotch, which caused Nathan's cock to go down Noah's throat. He choked a few times but his throat soon began to get used to the large intruder. Nathan would pull out to the head of his cock and then plunge the entire thing into Noah's throat, causing both Noah and Nathan to moan.

Noah was amazed that he could take the whole thing but he knew that he would soon be swallowing Nathan's seed. The closer Nathan came to cumming the dirtier Nathan's commands became.

"Take it bitch. That's it. Your mouth was made for my dick!" growled Nathan. He shoved himself all the way into Noah's throat and shouted as he started to cum. Nathan was soon withdrawing his shrinking dick from Noah's mouth. Only then did Noah taste anything. "Damn that was hot!"

Noah agreed with him.

"It's not over yet, Noah," said Nathan with growing passion. "I want your ass."

"I haven't been fucked in almost four years, Nathan," warned Noah.

"All I have to do is loosen you up, Noah. I'll be gentle, I promise," Nathan almost begged.

Nathan pulled Noah up from his knees and proceeded to kiss Noah again. As their passion reignited, Nathan started backing Noah up to the bed. When he got to the bed, he lowered Noah onto it and then ran out into the living room to get the lube and condoms that he had picked up from the drugstore.

He ran back into the bedroom and as he walked through the doors, he had the bottle of lube opened already. He was anxious to sink his dick into Noah's ass. He just knew it would be sweet. He put the lube and the condoms on the bed and lifted Noah's legs, wrapping them around his waist and then put his knees on the bed and bent down to kiss Noah. His cock was rubbing against Noah's ass and boy did it feel good to both of them.

"What do you want me to do, Noah?" Nathan could already read Noah's thoughts.

"I want you to rim me, loosen me up, and then fuck me until I cum again," Noah knew what he wanted.

Nathan began to kiss his way down Noah's body again. Noah's nipples were almost raw at this point and any touch or lick was sending shockwaves through his body. Nathan was soon down at Noah's crotch, licking Noah's nuts. He lifted Noah's legs so they were against Noah's chest and then he began running his tongue up and down Noah's ass crack. He could hear Noah moan and feel him shiver from the pleasure.

"On your knee's bitch," Nathan demanded.

Noah turned over quickly and lifted his ass up in the air, opening himself up to whatever Nathan wanted to do. If Nathan wanted Noah to do the Riverdance, he would have at this point. He was so turned that his ass started twitching. He so wanted this. He so needed to be fucked.

Nathan pulled apart Noah's ass cheeks and trust his tongue into Noah's ass. There was no beating around the bush. He went for it while making sure he didn't hurt Noah. After about several minutes of rimming Noah, he reached for the lube and began to lube up his finger and then Noah's ass. He gently and slowly shoved his finger into Noah's hole.

"Oh, yeah, that's it," moaned Noah. "That feels so good," as Nathan began to move his finger around.

Nathan soon had two and then three fingers in Noah's ass, moving them all around in all different directions, and attempting to open Noah up as best he could so Noah could take his cock.

"Now, Nathan, fuck me," Noah pleaded in a determined voice. "Now!"

Nathan pulled Noah half off the bed. Noah's knees were now on the floor and his chest was on the bed. Nathan came up from behind Noah and slowly started to insert his magnum covered black cock into Noah's white lubed ass.

"Slower!" asked Noah. Nathan slowed down but Noah's comment brought a quick slap on the ass from Nathan. "That's it. Slap my bitch ass, bitch."

Nathan slapped Noah's other ass cheek, which caused Noah to moan in sheer pleasure. Noah was feeling Nathan's big cock rub against his sensitive ring, across his prostate and the slapping of his ass was all causing Noah to go into emotional overload. It wasn't too long before Noah could feel Nathan's pubes against his ass. He knew that Nathan was fully in him. He had never felt so full in his life.

"Stay there for a minute." Noah was barely able to moan from the pleasure and pain Nathan was causing. "Move to the side a bit." Noah took a sharp intake of air as the pleasure went off the chart. He knew from then on that the pleasure was going to be intense.

After a few minutes of Nathan moving around, he started to withdraw almost fully before he plunged back slowly into Noah. When he felt Noah had been loosened up enough, he started to pull out faster and then plunge balls deep, inserting himself fully into Noah.

"I have to cum!" Noah said in a panic.

"No! You cannot cum until I tell you," Nathan ordered. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

All Noah could feel now was pleasure. Nathan's large cock could not help but rub fully along Noah's prostate. It was just too big to miss it. Noah felt it on every movement Nathan took.

"That's it daddy," moaned Noah causing a quick jab from Nathan. "Take me, Nathan, fuck me like the whore bitch I am."

Noah continued talking dirty to Nathan, causing Nathan to speed up. Nathan had been long dicking Noah for about twenty minutes before he felt his orgasm begin to build. He stopped and pulled out, causing Noah to start complaining.

"Put it back in now!" Noah yelled. He felt so empty without Nathan's dick in his ass and he was not ready for it end. "You son of a bitch, put it back in . . . now!"

Nathan just ignored Noah and flipped him over. He then lifted Noah up and pushed him onto the bed. Noah continued to yell insults at Nathan. He lifted Noah legs and then pushed himself back in, causing Noah to moan loudly again.

"It's so good, Nathan," moaned Noah as the pleasure overtook him. "It's so good."

"Who's my bitch?"

"I am!" Noah acknowledged loudly. "I'm your bitch ass whore."

"That's right bitch," replied Nathan.

Once he was fully inserted again, he moved Noah's legs around and then put both hands on the side of Noah's face, making him look into his eyes. Noah pushed Nathan's hands away and refused to look into his eyes. Noah's only done this with Luke and he wasn't going to do it with Nathan.

This irritated Nathan a little and he started to really pick up the pace. He withdrew and then plunged into Noah so fast, that Noah was beginning to scream out with pleasure. He could see Noah's eyes roll back with pleasure every time he withdrew and as he plunged back in fully. He tried to get Noah to look into his eyes but again he refused.

"No!" That was reserved for Luke. Noah was never going to do that with anyone ever again.

Nathan gave up on that and was soon feeling his own orgasm rise up again.

"I'm going to cum soon," Nathan said to Noah. "I'll let you know when you can cum."

"I have to cum," Noah begged with some urgency as he was moving his head from side to side. "Please, I have to."

"No, not yet," said Nathan as he continued to fuck the shit out of Noah.

Noah became so turned on that his body was going into overload again and he unconsciously tried to pull out of Nathan's hold but Nathan kept Noah in place and continued to long dick him. Nathan, once again, picked up the pace. He looked like a bullet train as he plunged and withdrew at a fast pace. Noah just moaned without stopping now, throwing his head from side to side violently trying to cope with the intense emotions he was feeling.

Nathan was ready to orgasm. "Noah, cum with me," groaned Nathan. "Now!"

Both men blew at the same time and both were in agony as their orgasms physically hurt through the immense pleasure. Noah's orgasm was so powerful that he was shooting cum over his head, shot after shot, until it finally stopped. Nathan shot into his condom but he knew from the sheer joy and agony of his orgasm that it was a large load.

After regaining a steady breath, Nathan pulled out his shrinking dick out of Noah and Noah groaned with disappointment at the emptiness he felt. Nathan pulled off his magnum and tied it in a knot, trying not to spill any of his cum out. Just as he thought, there was a lot cum in the condom. He dropped it off the side of the bed and then collapsed next to Noah who was on his way to passing out.

"Next time you can have my ass and I'll be your bitch," Nathan fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

"Cool," Noah fell instantly asleep.

-P-

The next morning Noah woke up to find Nathan gone. He found a note on the table that said that he would be back in two weeks and that last night was hot. It sure was hot but Noah was not happy.

"Oh God, I just cheated on Luke," Noah said aloud to himself as he started to cry.

He cried until he was out of tears before he realized that he could not have cheated since Luke has not been around for three years. Yes, he said he would wait for Luke but three years. How could Luke expect Noah to wait this long?

Noah moved his legs and immediately regretted it. His asshole was sore as hell. He reached down with his left hand and started to massage the pain from his hole. There was plenty of lube there and before he knew it, he had sunk in one of his fingers into his hole. He began to finger fuck himself while thinking of Luke and before he knew it, he had two fingers in his hole. His cock was rock hard and he started to jack it off while remembering the first time he had sex with Luke.

It was the first time Noah had sex with a man other than Luke. Even after the great sex last night, he felt sex with Luke was better. It was better because sex with Luke was never about sex, it was always about making love. He replayed the scene in his head and when they climaxed in his memory, he came for real while he was still finger fucking himself and for the second time in hours, he sent cum flying over his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two months later, back to present day . . .**

Noah was staring at Nathan sleeping in his bed after another round of great sex. Noah was hesitant to continue being fuck buddies with Nathan because he knew they were becoming closer. It couldn't be helped when having great sex especially with someone as hot as Nathan, but he'd never survive being in a full relationship and only seeing him twice a month.

Nathan's cell phone rang, waking him up and he answered it. The conversation took a minute and then he hung up the phone, flipped over, and spooned Noah.

"Sorry, that was my wife," Nathan said by mistake and instantly regretted as he felt Noah stiffen.

"What do you mean your wife?" Noah angrily asked Nathan.

"Um . . . ." started Nathan.

"You have a wife and you're sleeping with me?" Noah shouted angrily.

"Noah . . . ." Nathan started again.

"No. If you have a wife, then get the fuck out and do _not_ come back. I was in a similar situation once, your wife's position, and it's not fair to her or anyone else," an angry Noah got up, picked up his lounging pants, and went into the living room.

A few minutes later, Nathan came into the living room dressed.

"I'm sorry Noah," Nathan's voice was full of regrets. "I never meant to put you into a position you were uncomfortable with. You're a good person and well, the sex was great."

"Thanks Nathan. You're great too but I just cannot go along with this if you are married," Noah did not look at Nathan. "Think about what it will do to your wife. I know from experience that it hurts like hell." Noah was rubbing his tattoo.

Noah heard the door open and then shut as Nathan walked out the door and out of his life.

-P-

Noah sat there on his couch for about an hour crying. All the pain and remorse came flooding back into his mind from all those years ago, when he heard a knock on his door. He stood up, walked over to the door, and opened it. "Did you forget something, Nathan . . . Luke," Noah was surprised at seeing a familiar face at his doorstep. "What are you doing here?"

Luke took in the sight of Noah's naked chest before he responded. "You said I could come out to see you."

"That was over three years ago," Noah turned around and walked into his living room, leaving the door open for Luke.

Luke walked in the door with his suitcase. He put his suitcase down by the door, closed it, and followed Noah into the living room. "I know. I'm sorry. I got a little sidetracked."

"Sidetracked?" Noah could not believe what he just heard.

"I went through a bad time, Noah. It took me some time to get out of it."

"I wouldn't know. Nobody would answer any of my phone calls or inquiries," Noah voice was filled with pain.

"I asked them not to, Noah. I'm sorry," Luke regretted that decision but at the time, he thought it was necessary.

"I thought nobody cared," Noah's voice turned almost childlike.

Luke took a long look at Noah. It has been three years since they have seen each other and he was noticing all the changes in Noah, including the tattoo on Noah's chest. He walked up to Noah and ran his fingertips over the _taken_ tattoo over his heart. Noah shuddered at just being touched by Luke. Luke noticed how hot Noah looked with huge muscles.

"Is that because of me?" Luke asked gently.

"I got it after the first year. I gave up on being with you," Noah replied sadly.

"Gave up?" Luke seemed surprised.

"Yes, Luke, I gave up because I thought you had given up on me," complained Noah.

Looking back, he could not blame Noah for thinking that way. "I'm sorry, Noah." Luke looked around the apartment. "This place is huge. It must cost you a fortune. I thought you lived on the second floor?"

"I bought the building two years ago."

"Really? You must be doing well," a tone of surprise was evident in Luke's voice.

Noah was put off by the surprise in Luke's voice. "I'm not a barista anymore, Luke. On top of my salary, I get a percentage of the gross from the films I direct and when my movies do well, I make a lot of money and so far they all have done very well."

Luke felt a little sheepish by his tone. It was not what he intended. "I know. I've seen them all. I saw the dedication in the last one. That is why I am here. It gave me the strength to come out of my depression."

"Huh?" Noah did not understand what Luke was talking about.

"To Luciano, I love you with all my heart," Luke's eye caught a glimpse of a playpen in the corner of the room. He wondered why it was there.

"But that wasn't for . . . ," Noah suddenly stopped as he figured out what Luke was talking about.

Luke turned from looking at the playpen to facing Noah with a hurt look on his face. "What? That wasn't for me? How many Luciano's do you know?"

"I'm sorry," he did not want to hurt Luke. "I know two Luciano's."

"Is . . . is he important to you?" Luke was trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Yes, he's very important," Noah picked up a framed picture and handed it to Luke.

Luke looked at the picture Noah gave him of Noah and a baby. "How could Noah have a baby?" Luke asked to himself and then it occurred to him how it could have happened.

"No. You know I'm gay, Luke," Noah knew Luke would jump to the wrong conclusion.

"Then how do you have a baby?" Luke demanded to know.

"When I got to Los Angeles, I went to a party. I was missing you and stupidly thought getting drunk was the way to handle it. There was a girl there named Maria. She thought she had the golden pussy and could convert me to being straight. She took advantage of me in my drunken state. She got pregnant but did not want the baby. After convincing her that I wanted it, she decided to have it and give it to me, but she died during child-birth." The subject still pained Noah deeply. He was glad he had Lu and would not change a thing but it still hurt.

"I'm sorry, Noah," Luke felt ashamed for being so demanding.

"I'm not. While I would have preferred it to happen differently, I have a son that I love with all my heart," Noah said proudly.

It finally occurred to Luke. "You named him after me?"

"Yes, his name is Luciano Holden Mayer," Noah had a proud look on his face.

"Dad too?" Luke had a surprised look on his face.

"Yes, the two most important . . . ," Noah stopped in mid-sentence and then looked away.

"It's okay, Noah. I understand. If we could all go back and do things differently we would, but we can't," Luke wished he could turn back the clock and change things. "Where is your son now?"

"He's downstairs with Abby, his babysitter," Noah could still read Luke like a book and he wanted to see Lu. He picked up his cell phone and called Abby.

"Hey Abby, my plans took a disastrous turn. Can you bring Lu up? That's great, thanks," Noah hung up his phone after his conversation was over.

"He'll be up there in a minute. I'm going to go change before they get up here."

Noah ran from the room and pulled on some underwear, shorts, and a shirt he was wearing before Nathan's visit. By the time he walked back into the living room, there was a knock on the door. He walked over to it and opened the door.

"There's my big man," Noah said with pride.

"Daddy!" Lu stretched out his tiny arms out, wanting his daddy to hold him.

"I missed you so much," Noah picked up his son and gave him a hug. "Was he a good little man for you, Abby?"

"He's always good," Abby rubbed the top of Lu's head as Lu smiled at her.

Just hearing Noah with his son made Luke's heart melt. He was dying to see little Luciano or Lu as Noah called him.

Noah walked into the living room with Abby following him.

Luke took a good look at Lu. Luke remembered the pictures from Noah's mom and Lu looks exactly like Noah did at his age. The black hair and bluest eyes one could ever see on a person, just melted Luke's heart. He looked so cute in his spiderman jammies.

Lu saw Luke. "Wuke!" screamed Lu with a smile on his face. He began to wiggle to get down. Noah let him down and he ran over to Luke and hugged his leg for dear life.

"Wait . . . that's Luke?" Abby was surprised that Luke was in Noah's apartment.

"Yes," Noah smiled, his eyes shiny with tears, as he pulled Abby into a one-arm hug. He was happy that Lu was meeting Luke. In the back of his mind, he knew it would happen someday but he never allowed himself to consciously think it.

Luke knelt down on the floor. "How do you know my name cute little guy?"

"Daddy," Lu pointed to the pictures of Luke, Noah, and the Snyders on the side table.

Luke looked at the picture and then up at Noah with tears in his eyes.

Noah turned to Abby. "Luke has three younger siblings. I used to help take care of Ethan with Luke, when I lived at the farm."

Luke picked up Lu and pulled him into a huge hug, as he sat down in a chair. "You're such a big boy. How old are you?"

Lu proudly held up two fingers.

"That's old!" Luke laughed as Lu shook his head up and down.

Lu hugged Luke and laid his head on Luke's shoulder and was soon asleep.

"I've never seen him take to someone as quick as Luke. Not even Nathan," Abby looked at Noah.

"Nathan won't be back," Noah whispered to Abby. "I didn't know he was married until today. I threw him out."

Abby gasped. "No . . . Are you okay?"

"No strings remember," Noah continued to whisper. "But I am upset I was the other man and didn't know it. It brought back a lot of bad memories."

Luke heard the whispers and Nathan's name again. Luke was sad that Noah had found someone else. Well, he couldn't really complain. He went through one as well trying to get his bearings back but it looked like it did not work out for Noah.

"Tell me later. I need to go," Abby whispered.

Abby said goodbye to both men and left.

"She seems like a nice person, Noah. I'm glad you have someone to help take care of this little guy," Luke smiled at Noah.

Noah almost melted as Luke smiled at him. "Let's get him to bed. Then we can talk."

Luke got up slowly with Lu in his arms and followed Noah into a hallway and then into a room. The room was decorated with sesame street characters. Lu woke up as Luke put him in his bed and started to demand that his daddy read him a bedtime story. Noah agreed and sat down to read to him but Lu was asleep within minutes. Luke took a video of Noah reading to Lu on his phone to send to his parents in the morning. He was so proud of Noah for being such a good father, since his own father was so lousy.

Luke and Noah walked back out into the living room to talk.

"God Noah, he's so cute. He looks just like you from the baby pictures your aunt sent from your mom."

"Scary isn't it? I am glad you convinced me to keep them. I even have a few of them displayed."

-P-

Noah went into the kitchen, got them both a bottle of water and sat down on the couch to catch up.

Noah told Luke about what his life had been like for the past three years. His job, Maria and Lu, his emotional shut down and even included everything about Nathan.

"There was no strings attached to the relationship but I still feel bad about it. I just threw him out. It brought up things that were just too close to . . . things that I soon just forget about. It's funny because I could swear that it was Dallas, you know the cop from Oakdale, but he said no, he was from Las Vegas but he even had the same green shirt Dallas wears," Noah laughed at the end.

"Dallas, huh? He's hot. So, you've never been in a real relationship with anyone in three years you've been out here?"

"No, I told you I would wait but I shut myself down emotionally to virtually everyone after what Maria did to me. I mean, I was friendly to people but I never went out of my way to encourage any type of romance with anyone."

Luke told Noah about his past three years. He had fallen into a deep depression after Reid died and Noah left. He was not able to get out of it for two years. It was only after seeing Noah's movie and the dedication, that he had the strength to pull himself back together. He also had _a Nathan_ in his life but that was short lived. "I wanted to feel something, anything other than being depressed but I only felt more depressed because I was thinking of you all the time. When I realized what I wanted, I needed to straighten up my life before I reclaimed what was mine," Luke suppressed a yawn.

Noah did not respond to his last statement but he did notice that Luke had yawned. It was past midnight and Noah was sure that Luke was tired from his flight.

"Where are you staying tonight?"

"I'm not sure. I came out here on a spur of a moment. I did not make any hotel reservations."

He laughed to himself about Luke still being impulsive. "You can stay in the guest room if you like. Lu will be getting up about six thirty. Don't be surprised if he comes in for a visit." Noah finished with smile.

Luke laughed and accepted Noah's offer. He grabbed his luggage and followed Noah to the guestroom and when Noah left, he went into the bathroom to take a quick shower while Noah was in the master bathroom finally washing the sex with Nathan off his body. Both men finished their showers, put on some pajama bottoms and went directly to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Sure enough, the next morning, Luke could feel a small warm body crawling into bed with him.

"Good morning little man. Does your daddy know where you are?" Luke had a big smile on his face.

"Yeah, he's in the chitchen," replied the sweet little boy as he snuggled into Luke's hug.

"I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"

Lu shook his head violently yes as only kids can do. "You unna lief my daddy?" Lu asked seriously, just as Noah got to the guestroom door.

"That's why I came out for a visit. I wanted to talk with your daddy about staying."

Noah interrupted before the conversation got any further. "Hey kiddo, your juice is on the table," he said to his son. Lu jumped out of bed and ran out the door. "Sorry about that. He is a curious boy. He certainly loves you already."

Luke got out of bed.

Noah couldn't help staring at Luke's hairy chest. He looked back up, nervously, into Luke's eyes. "I better get back into the kitchen. Breakfast should be ready soon."

Luke went into the bathroom, washed up, and got dressed. He walked into the kitchen but nobody was there except for one plate of food. Noah walked into the kitchen behind Luke and picked up the last plate.

"Lu wanted to eat up on the rooftop deck."

"You have a rooftop deck?" Luke was surprised.

"It's California, isn't it?" Noah laughed.

Luke followed Noah up to the deck. Luke was amazed by how large the deck was and the view was simply spectacular. When he sat down at the table, he was amazed by the food choices. Noah made omelets, toast, bacon, and hash browns with orange juice and coffee.

"Wow, what a feast," Luke could not suppress his smile. Luke took a picture with his phone quickly. "Grandma will be thrilled that you cooked," Luke Laughed.

"Well, when you have a little one around, you have to learn. Abby and her mom, Alice, have been teaching me," Noah grinned.

After they ate their breakfast, Noah took Lu to the other side of the deck to watch cartoons while Luke was sipping on his cup of coffee. Noah came back over and sat down as he noticed that Luke was texting on his phone.

"So, I heard what Lu said to you this morning and your response. Is that why you are here, to see where we go from here?"

"Yes. I know that I did not come right away and I am sorry for that but I am here now. Is it too late?"

"No, it's not too late but I have to tell you that I had totally given up hope that you would come to me, that's why I started sleeping with Nathan. I was beginning to open up to others again."

The sound of Luke's phone interrupted the conversation. "Sorry, Mom said to take a better video of Lu but she said that he is darling."

Noah smiled.

"Daddy . . . ," interrupted Lu, "Can we zoo?"

"How about we go tomorrow for your birthday?" Noah loved the zoo but hated the crowds.

"Yeah!" he yelled with a big grin on his face as he went back to watch TV.

Luke smiled at Lu's reaction. "Wait, tomorrow's his birthday?"

"Yes," Noah had pride on his face. "He's growing up so fast."

Luke was busy typing on his phone. Noah thought it was strange but he let it go. He had not seen Luke in the past three years and figured that he might have picked up some new habits that he did not know about.

-P-

"So you came out here to see if we can work things out?" Noah was feeling ignored by Luke's texting.

"Yes, I did. I realized after I came out of my depression that I was more upset over you being gone than Reid. I missed not seeing and talking to you more than Reid. I missed your arms around me more than Reid's. I missed you telling me that you loved me. I missed you kissing and making love to me," Luke paused. "I was in love with someone who wanted me and I know now that you did love me and wanted me, you always did, but for a while I wasn't so sure. I look back know and think . . . what was I thinking."

"I ask myself that all the time," Noah grinned.

Luke laughed. "I'm a romantic and yet, I did nothing romantic with Reid. We barely hugged or held hands. He just was not that type of person. We never went out, well, we did once but it was a disaster. All we did was argue about you. Never went for ice cream or a walk around Snyder pond or the movies, basically, none of the things we used to do. I know now that it would have never worked out with Reid . . . I didn't realize that until I started my journal again."

"You started writing again?" Noah was surprised.

"Yes. I've even written a few articles for the foundation."

Noah was in shock. This was the Luke he fell in love with. After the election, Luke had changed. He gave up his passion for writing so he could work at the foundation and for Damian. After that, everything slowly went to hell.

"I seem to have shocked you."

"You have. I never thought I would see the writer in you again. What about Grimaldi Shipping?"

"Oh, World Wide and Grimaldi Shipping merged. Grandmother and mom are running the combined company together with me. I am mostly a silent partner but since I am the second largest shareholder in the combined company, I am keeping up with the business, just in case I am needed. I may have some meetings here with people. But I'm back to what I want to do, not what people think I should do."

"Why merge them?" Noah asked curiously.

"I wanted to come out here to be with you, so I had a couple of options but merging it with World Wide seemed like the best idea. Grandmother was impressed. I will still be running the foundation and having fundraisers but I can phone or video conference back to Oakdale for issues that come up with World Wide. I do get an email every day giving me a run down on what's going on," Luke noticed a change in Noah half way through the conversation. "What's wrong?"

"You dumped Grimaldi Shipping so you could come out here to be with me?"

"Yes."

Noah got up, went to the side of the deck, and leaned against the deck railing looking out. His mind raced with the news Luke had just told him.

Luke followed him. "What's wrong?"

Noah turned to look at him with tears streaming down his face. "You really want to be here with me?"

"Yes. I told you that," Luke wiped away Noah's tears.

"Yes but actions are louder than words, Luke." Noah reached over, put his hand behind Luke's neck, and pulled Luke into a long sensual kiss. When it broke, Noah was full of emotion. "I want you to stay here with me. I know we have a lot of issues to work on but I love you Luciano Snyder and I know you love me."

"I do love you, Noah Mayer. I want nothing more than to stay here with you."

Noah could see the love in Luke's eyes and he reached over and started kissing Luke again, only this time, and more passionately but they broke the kiss before it went too far. They both knew that they needed to work on their relationship before they went further.

Luke received another text. As Luke read it, his face turned white as a sheet.

"What is it Luke?" asked Noah.

"It . . . it's . . . it's from dad," Luke was so shocked by what he saw that he could barely speak.

"What is it Luke? You're scaring me," complained Noah.

"It says and I quote . . . you should meet up with Dallas, he's in L.A. every couple of weeks for training,"

Noah was stunned. It was Dallas that he had been sleeping with. "I knew it. He said he was married."

"He married Bonnie last year. Why would he . . . ."

Noah knew what Luke was going to say. "I do not really care. He lied. That's what makes me mad."

"You don't care that it was Dallas?"

"No, I wouldn't have cared if it was Dallas. We had no strings. He knew I was not interested in getting into a relationship. I only care that he lied. He should have told me the truth from the start."

Luke and Noah just sat there just staring at each other for a few minutes, trying to digest what was just revealed. Noah thought they needed a change in subject. "See the building next door?"

"It's just like this one, right?"

"Yes, the owner used to own this one too and is now selling that one. The tenants asked me to buy it. They know how well I have treated the tenants here. Since I'm making a huge profit on this one already, I'm going buying that one too."

"You've done well for yourself, Mayer. I always knew you would."

Noah blushed and felt he needed to change the subject again. "Let's go and watch some cartoons with little Luciano." Noah held out his hand to Luke. "Spiderman should be on."

"That's one of my favorites," laughed Luke. "I can't believe you named him after me."

"Why? I told you on Emma's porch that you were my happy ending."

"And you are my happy ending, Noah."


	4. Chapter 4

It was late in the afternoon when Noah received a phone call from the editor on his latest film.

"Noah, we have to reshoot the house scene with Sam and Jenna," Frank frantically spit out as soon as Noah picked up the phone.

"What?" Noah could not believe what he was hearing.

"I looked at the footage and it's unusable."

"Shit. How can that be? We looked at it before we left," Noah was in disbelief.

"The memory card must have corrupted on the way back from the location shoot. The entire scene has artifacts all through it."

"Shit. It's a pivotal scene," Noah glanced at Luke but he knew there was no other way. "We have to reshoot it. We only have the house until tomorrow afternoon so we need to get everyone down to the location as soon as possible. Call Billy and Jake and get them down there as soon as they can to set up everything while we get everyone else down there. Bring a different camera and a laptop, so we can pull the image off the memory card and verify it is correct while we are there, just to make sure we have it this time."

"Will do boss," Frank was opening his phone list.

"Thanks Frank," Noah hung up the phone and turned to Luke. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Luke was disappointed but he knew what dating a director entailed.

"You just arrived and this will take all evening to reshoot. I probably won't be back till early tomorrow morning."

"It's okay. Lu and I can get to know each other better."

Noah was taken aback by Luke's comment. "I'll call Abby. She normally watches him."

Luke was surprised by Noah's reluctance to Lu spending the night with him. "Are you kidding?"

"No, I will call Abby," Noah started to reach for his cellphone but Luke stopped him.

"Noah, he can stay with me!" Luke was not going to take no as an answer.

Noah looked at Luke hesitant of the blond's offer. He could see that Luke really wanted to do this. "Okay, give her a call if you need anything." He went over to the counter and wrote down her phone number on a pad.

Noah grabbed his stuff, said goodbye to Luke and Lu and headed out the door. Noah had called Abby from his car and asked her to check up on Luke and Lu a couple times during the evening.

Luke and Lu played ball together in the back yard where he could see Abby looking out her window at them. He knew she was watching them. When Lu got hungry, they went inside to figure out what to eat but Lu was insistent on Thai takeout. Luke had to laugh to himself. He could totally see Noah in Lu. Luke read a book to Lu when he put Lu to bed about eight in the evening.

-P-

There was a knock on the door about an hour later and when Luke opened the door, he received the shock of his life. Holden, Lily, Lucinda, Emma, Natalie, and Ethan were standing there. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"We came for Lu's birthday," replied an ecstatic Lily.

"Keep your voices down, he's sleeping. Noah is at a reshoot right now."

"I told them we should call first," Holden hugged his son.

"We need to find a hotel," Emma said, looking a bit tired.

"Stay here. This place should be big enough."

Lucinda looked around. "It is huge!"

"Noah owns the building," Luke proudly shared with his family.

"He does. It is a beautiful building. I mentioned it on the way up," Lucinda was impressed.

"Mom and Dad can stay in Noah's room, Grandma and Grandmother can stay in the guest room, Nat and Ethan can stay in the office pull out and Noah and I can take the couch here."

"Are you sure, honey?" asked Lily.

"I'm sure Noah won't mind but if you want to find a hotel this late at night . . . ."

"Here is fine!" exclaimed Emma. She was just too tired to want to go out again.

It was around midnight when the family realized that maybe they should get some rest before the festivities the following morning. Holden went down to get the luggage out of the limo. Lily and Luke pulled out the sleeper in the office so they could get the kids ready for bed. When they were done with that, they changed the sheets in the two bedrooms and pulled out the sleeper in the living room. Before they knew it, they were all in bed.

-P-

Noah got back to his apartment early in the morning, just before dawn. He was tired and did not notice Luke on the sleeper sofa in the living room. He went directly to his bedroom, slipped off all his clothes and got into bed. As he was getting comfortable, he noticed that he had company.

"Luke said he regretted waiting to have sex with Reid, so maybe he doesn't want to wait," Noah thought. He spooned Luke and started kissing his neck. He rubbed his instant erection against Luke's ass as he continued to kiss and lick around his neck. Luke was moaning in his sleep but that did not last long.

"What the hell?" Holden yelled, as he frantically wondered who was nibbling on his neck and what was poking him in the ass.

"Oh, shit!" Noah figured out it was not Luke. He jumped out of bed and turned on the light. Noah was shocked to find Holden and Lily in his bed. He did not even realize that he was naked as a jaybird . . . with an erection. Holden just stared at Noah, as did Lily who was taking in Noah's hot body. Luke, Emma, and Lucinda, hearing all the commotion, ran into the room to see what was going on.

"Wha... what are you doing here?" Noah stuttered.

"We came for Lu's birthday," yawned Lily.

Luke was memorized by Noah's hot body. It had been a long time since he has seen Noah naked. He liked what he saw but Holden did not.

"You're naked, Noah," Holden threw a pillow at Noah.

Noah looked down and freaked out. "Oh shit," he yelled as he ran into the bathroom as everyone started laughing. A few minutes later, Noah came out with a pair of lounging pants and a t-shirt on. "I am so sorry, Holden. I didn't realize it was you in my bed."

"It's okay, Noah. I only hope I can forget about it," trying to shake the memory out of his head.

Luke took the opportunity to pick on Noah. "You wanted to have sex with my dad?"

"I thought it was you," Noah turned red with embarrassment.

"Oh, so you wanted to have sex with me?"

"You were the only adult here when I left. I thought it was you. Why else would you have been in my bed?"

"I've had enough of this conversation," Holden complained, as he got out of bed.

-P-

Everyone was wide-awake at this point, so they followed Noah into the kitchen and sat at the table while he made a pot of coffee. When Noah turned around, Emma pulled him into a hug. "I've missed you, Noah." She could feel him tense up.

"I've missed you too, Emma," Noah was distant but happy to see her.

Emma was sad he was so withdrawn. She let go of Noah and walked to the other counter. "I made you some cookies and a couple of pies before we came."

"They look great. Thanks." Noah snatched a cookie before he started pouring the coffee. He could not help but stop as he took a bite of the cookie. It had been a long time since he had an Emma baked cookie and it was as great as he remembered.

Everyone came up and gave Noah a hug as they got their coffee and sat down at the table. Noah made another pot and sat down at the table to drink his.

"Luke says you own the building," Lucinda broke the ice.

"Yes, I bought it two years ago. It has been a good investment so I decided to buy the matching building next door," Noah was proud of the time he had spent in Los Angeles. He had done well for being on his own and was proud of everything he had accomplished.

"You're doing well then?"

"Yes, I have almost half the loan paid off already. I have good tenants. I have a couple who loves to garden, so they keep the grounds manicured. I have a contractor, Joe, who lives here as well. Joe's wife Abby is like the super for the building and babysits Lu. They both get a reduction in their rent and I get all my maintenance at a low rate."

"That's great, Noah," said Lily.

"I have the best rental property in this or any of the surrounding neighborhoods and I have people calling every day who want to rent from me."

Lucinda was impressed. "You've accomplished a lot being out here. I'm proud of you Noah."

Noah talked to them about his latest film and his late night when everyone heard the patter of little feet entering the kitchen.

"Daddy, you home," said Lu as he launched himself at Noah.

Noah caught Lu. "How are you this morning?" Noah smiled happily, as he gave his son a kiss.

"Good," Lu hugged his dad tightly.

"Happy Birthday, pumpkin. You're getting so big," groaned Noah.

"Tanks daddy," Lu did not seem to notice anyone else in the room.

"What did you have for dinner last night?"

"Tie."

"I should have known you'd have Thai food . . . ." A quick thought crossed his mind. "Wait, you didn't get him anything with curry in it, did you?"

"No, Abby warned me," Luke laughed.

"Stinkies," giggled Lu.

"Stinkies does not quite cover it, kiddo," laughed Noah. "He gets the worst gas you can imagine from curry. So, Luke spoiled you. I'll have to get you a passport soon if you eat anymore Thai."

Lu giggled again and cuddled into his dad's chest, laying his head on his shoulder, to finish waking up.

Everyone was looking at Noah and his son with pride. He was such a loving father. Luke could not help but be so proud of Noah knowing what kind of father he had.

A few minutes later, Lu figured out there were other people in the room other than Luke. "Who they?"

"These are Luke's parents and grandparents."

"Hi," Lu waved at them with a big sleepy smile on his face.

Lily, Emma, and Lucinda fell instantly in love with the young doppelganger of Noah. The pictures Luke sent them on their phone did not do justice. Lu looked exactly like his father.

"I'll introduce you all later. Let's get you cleaned up for breakfast first," Noah lightly tickled his son.

"Stop daddy," Lu giggled as he struggled to get loose.

Noah stood up, threw his giggling son over his shoulder, and walked out of the kitchen.

Lucinda could tell something was different about Noah. "What's wrong with Noah?"

"It's my fault," Luke had a sad look on his face. "I asked you not to contact Noah and he feels that we had abandoned him."

"That's silly," Lucinda brushed off her grandson's comment.

"I can see how he could feel that way. Not one of us called him in the past two years," sighed Holden.

"He doesn't even trust me. I had to almost force him into letting Lu stay with me last night and he still had Abby check up on me a couple of times."

Lily moved her chair over and rubbed Luke's back. He was clearly hurt by Noah's lack of trust.

"What's with the tattoo on his chest?" asked Emma.

"He had it put on after a year of being in Los Angeles, after he realized I was not coming out. He wanted to warn others that his heart wasn't available," Luke started crying. Lily moved around in her chair and pulled him into a hug.

Lucinda weighing the perviousness of the conversation decided to lighten up the mood. "Oh, darling, why didn't you tell us about Noah?"

"Huh?" Luke was confused at what his grandmother was talking about.

"Why didn't you tell us Noah was so hung?" Lucinda's mischievous smirk crossed her face.

A look of horror overtook his face. "What?"

"Mother," Lily was shocked.

Holden got up out of his chair and walked out of the kitchen. "I really don't want to hear this conversation."

Emma tried to disappear into her coffee cup. She was seriously considering joining Holden.

"Seriously darling, what a great catch. I bet he is dynamite in bed."

Before he could catch himself, Luke blurted out, "Yes, he is." His face turned a beet red when he realized he actually said that aloud.

"Luke!" chastised Lily.

"Oh God, I said that aloud, didn't I?" Luke covered his face with his hands.

"Yes, you did, darling." Lucinda grinned.

"Sorry, Grandma."

Emma just kept drinking her coffee.

"Do tell us, Luke," Lucinda pried for details.

"I am not discussing my sex life with any of you."

"I'd appreciate that, Luke," Emma chuckled.

"Oh come on, you can tell us," Lucinda was egging him on.

"Mother!" Lily was horrified by her intrusion into Luke's sex life.

Luke knew his grandmother would keep asking. "I'm not going to have this conversation with you but I will say . . . ," he looked around to see if anyone else was in the room. "It was always an out of body experience!"

"Luke!" Lily chastised.

"I seem to remember," Lucinda laughed.

"What?"

"Remember after you and Noah got back together after Brian . . . the day we had ice cream."

It took Luke only a few second to figure out what she was talking about. "Oh . . . my . . . God!" All the color drained away from his face. Luke wished he could slide under the table and slip through any available crack in the floor. "You . . . you . . . heard?"

Lucinda nodded her head. Luke could not believe what his grandmother just revealed. Lily and Emma could tell that they really did not want to know what they were talking about.

"You both were very vocal, as I recall," she gave Luke a knowing look.

Lily figured it out. "Mother!"

"It was our first . . . ," Luke stopped when he realized he was talking aloud again.

Lily's eyes got wide when she realized he meant first time. "Luke!"

Lucinda waited until Luke face relaxed. "Darling, we hope you know that if you are having trouble with anything that you would come to us for help . . . with anything."

"Yeah, yeah but our problem isn't with sex. It's out of the bedroom where we run into problems."

"Isn't that where the problems always are," Lucinda replied honestly. In most cases, it was true.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when Noah and Holden walked into the kitchen.

-P-

Noah washed Lu and sat him down in front of the TV in his bedroom while he went into the bathroom and washed up quickly, changed and walked into living room to see Holden sitting on a chair. "What are you doing out here, Holden?"

"They are talking about things in there that I don't really want to know about."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good," Noah knew if Holden did not want to know, that it had to be unpleasant. "Well, I have to start breakfast, so maybe if we go in together, they might stop."

Holden got up and they walked towards the kitchen. "It's worth a try."

-P-

"What are you all talking about?" Noah was curious.

"You don't want to know," Luke muttered under his breath.

"You," Emma replied honestly.

"We owe you an apology," Lucinda spoke up.

Noah just stared at them. "For what?"

"Making you feel like we abandoned you," Lily replied sadly.

"Oh!" Noah turned around quickly and took eggs out of the refrigerator.

"It's my fault, Noah," Luke's voice was thick with emotion.

Noah noticed Luke was crying. He put the eggs on the counter, walked over to Luke and pulled him into a hug. "It's okay, Luke. I understand but it still hurts."

"I guess we were so wrapped up in Luke's and our own troubles that we couldn't see beyond that," said Lily, nervously playing with her hands.

"I just don't want my son hurt. If you decide to cut me out again," his instinct was to protect his son, "maybe it's best if you all just left."

Holden walked over to Noah. "We promise to never let that happen again." Noah could see the sincerity in his eyes before Holden pulled him into a hug. He looked at Lily, Emma, and Lucinda and they had the same look. Noah wanted to believe them.

"I don't want my son to have to go through . . . I want my son to have a less complicated life than I had."

"No matter what happens between you and Luke, we all want to be part of your life!" Holden reassured him.

Noah saw the truth in Holden's eyes. He knew that things would be different now.

"Daddy, who's office?" asked Lu as he ran into the kitchen and up to his dad.

Holden broke the hug with Noah and looked at Lu.

"That's Luke's younger brother and sister," as he picked up his son. "Everyone, this is Luciano Holden Mayer. I call him Lu." Noah had a big grin on his face.

"You named him after me?" Holden was shocked.

"Uh, my name's first dad," Luke teased his father.

"Yes. You and Luke were the two men in my life that I loved the most."

A teary eyed Holden pulled Lu and Noah into a hug.

"I am your Grandpa Holden."

Noah was surprised that Holden addressed himself as Grandpa. He was about to complain but the look in his son's eyes stopped him.

"Hi, Granpa," Lu said with a big smile. He was so excited to be getting a grandpa that he threw his arms around Holden's neck and held on for dear life.

Noah let go of Holden and let Lu and his Grandpa bond.

Lily, who was crying, added herself into Lu and Holden's hug. "I'm your Grandma Lily." Lu put his arms around her neck.

Emma could not wait any longer, so she came up and introduced herself. "I am your Grandma Em."

Lily broke the hug and walked over to where Luke, Noah, and Holden were standing and embraced Noah. "I can't believe how much he looks like you. He has the same eyes, shape of his face and hair as you do, Noah."

"That's what I said," Luke smiled.

"You seem so good with him," said Lily. "Not like . . ." She did not finish.

"I want him to know I love him unconditionally and I show it. I want to be a father like Holden," Noah found himself being hugged by Holden again.

Finally, it was Lucinda's turn with her great-grandson. She walked up and wrapped her arms around Emma and Lu. "I am your Grandma Lu."

"My name," giggled Lu.

"Well, in my case, Lu is short for Lucinda," she wiggled his nose with her finger, which made him giggle.

-P-

Everyone was bonding in the kitchen when the doorbell chimed. Noah walked out of the kitchen, to open the door, and found Abby holding a bunch of bags.

"I figured that you would need a couple dozen of eggs, muffins, orange juice, and things for breakfast with all the company you have."

"Thanks Abby. I don't know what I would do without you," Noah took some of the bags and guided her towards the kitchen.

"Well luckily, you won't have to find out," teased Abby.

"Everyone, this is Abby," Noah said as they both walked into the kitchen. "She went shopping for me," Noah introduced her to everyone.

Lu jumped off Lily's lap and ran over into Abby's outstretched arms. "Happy birthday little man."

"Tanks Abby."

"What are you going to do today?"

"Zoo!" yelled Lu.

"That's great. I'll see you at the party tonight."

"Paty? Yeah!" Lu jumped up and down waving his arms. Abby cringed for letting the surprise slip out. Noah shook his head at her.

Lily went to get the Ethan and Natalie up for breakfast. Lu went around and sat on each grandparents lap for a couple minutes, soaking in the love before he jumped off and onto another lap. It was the best present he could have gotten for his birthday.

"Noah!" Natalie and Ethan came running into the kitchen.

"It's so great to see you," said Noah as he hugged them. "You are both are getting so big."

Natalie and Ethan were soaking up Noah's attention until he told them he had to prepare breakfast. They were disappointed but hungry, so they let him make breakfast. Emma wanted to help with breakfast but Noah refused, however, he did give in to Abby's nagging and let her help him cut up the vegetables for the omelets, while they were talking with everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

The zoo was great fun for the kids. Lu, Natalie, and Ethan were getting along as if they have always known each other by the time the trip to the zoo had ended. Lu was continuing to swap adults, and before they knew it, they were all in the limo driving back to Noah's apartment. Lu was out like a light as soon as he was strapped into his car seat and he did not wake up until Noah pulled him out of it when they got back to the apartment. He did not complain when Noah put him to bed to take a nap, while everyone got ready for the party.

Luke and Lily went out to buy presents for Lu while Emma made some cookies. Lu woke up from his nap to fresh baked cookies and Grandma Em read him a story to occupy the birthday boy's curiosity about the party. Everyone else was helping by hanging up balloons and setting up the roof deck for the party.

Most of the guests were there when the food began to arrive, from local restaurants within blocks of Noah's buildings. There were about twenty adults and ten kids at the party. Spring, California, and egg rolls, several types of sushi, an assortment of Thai, Japanese, and three type's pizza fed all the hungry stomachs.

As it turned out, Lucinda knew Abby's mother Alice. The woman used to run a company that did business with World Wide. She sold it a couple of years ago and since retirement was not all it was cracked up to be, she was now itching for something to do. Lucinda reminded her that she had told her that and talked to her about a part time job with a Los Angeles office of World Wide that she wanted to open.

Lu loved all his gifts. The books from Luke, the farm toys from Lily and Holden, the fun educational videos from Grandma Em, more toys from Ethan, Natalie and Faith, an honorary gym membership from Tony, which said that he would babysit Lu when Luke and Noah worked out but the best gift he got was from his dad. Noah had a video of the farm and his and Luke's favorite spots in Oakdale. When Noah had moved out to Los Angeles, he had put the video away but since the Snyders were there, he decided to give it to Lu for his birthday plus some clothes and toys but it was the video he loved.

"My present is next," Lucinda announced as she handed an envelope to Noah.

Noah opened the large manila envelope and sat there stunned and rather tongue-tied.

"Noah, what is it?" Luke wanted to know what silenced him.

"It's a trust fund for Lu," Noah breathed. "Lucinda, I appreciate . . ."

Lucinda interrupted Noah. "I gave this much to each of my grandchildren. Lu is no different."

"But it's a lot of money," Noah could not believe that she would give his child so much money but he knew enough that once Lucinda had her mind made up, there was nothing that would change it, so he didn't fight it. "My three-year old son's net worth is almost larger than my own." Noah stuttered. He sat down in the chair that was next to him.

Lucinda giggled at Noah's reaction.

Lu was exhausted after the party but happy. He got everything he wanted but he would not tell anyone what he wished for when he blew out his birthday cake candles. Grandma Lu and Grandma Em put him to bed and read him one of the new books.

Three days later, Holden, Lily, Emma, Lucinda, Natalie, and Ethan went home to Oakdale. Lu was upset that his new family was leaving but they told him that they would call him and Emma agreed to send him cookies in the mail. Noah was upset too. He was happy to reconnect with them and sad they were leaving.

-P-

After Lu had gone to sleep the evening the Snyders went home, Luke and Noah finally had time to talk.

"Alone at last," laughed Luke.

"Yeah . . . um, Luke . . . I'm not that person anymore. It's been three years," Noah paused to gather his thoughts. "Losing you and your family, then being, well, the ugly truth is . . . I was date raped by Maria." Noah shuttered at the memory. "But losing you and having Lu has changed me." Noah tried not to lose the courage of letting Luke into his heart again. "Losing you and your family was my biggest fear and when it became a reality, I had to do a lot of thinking." Noah's eyes welled up with tears. "It was totally my fault, Luke. I pushed you way time after time and I don't blame you for finding someone . . . ."

Luke interrupted Noah. "It wasn't totally your fault, Noah. I was pushing you into something that you weren't ready for and . . . ."

"No, Luke, it was my . . . I was in so much turmoil . . . ," Noah started losing control of his feelings that he had to stop talking. Tears were rolling down his face as Luke pulled him into a hug. He broke down and sobbed Luke's arms. "When I saw you kiss . . . when you said we didn't belong together . . . it killed me inside . . . it was my fault . . . all my fault."

Luke started to cry himself. "It was my fault too, Noah. I get very insecure. Whether I like it or not, I have a Grimaldi blood in me. I could not let Kevin win the election because I could not let him get the better of me and I blamed you. I drank and kissed Brian because I was jealous since I could not let you get the better of me with Maddie, and after I could not fix you, I found someone else to try to fix. God, I tried to make him human," Luke laughed through his tears.

Noah could not help but laugh, through his tears, at Reid being human. "So you're saying that you dated your grandmother?"

"Ewww," the thought of what Noah had said made Luke shudder. "I did not!"

"If your plan to fix him worked, he would have been your grandmother."

"No, that's not . . . ."

"Lucinda can be kind and loving but she can also be brash, bitchy, superior, self-righteous, and arrogant at times."

Luke thought drifted back to how Lucinda acted when she was going after Craig. "Oh God, it's true! It's true, isn't it?" A look of horror filled Luke's face. "I didn't see that before."

Noah started laughing. Luke could not figure out why Noah was on the verge of hysterics. "Wasn't he . . . ," Noah could not stop laughing. ". . . he Lucinda's age?" He fell over onto his side howling with laughter.

Luke punched Noah in the shoulder. "He was not!" Luke was upset at first but after watching Noah laugh his ass off, he started laughing himself. After Noah stopped, he continued. "I don't think it would have lasted. We were just too different. We may have baggage but at least we like many of the same things, with Reid, well, we did not have a lot in common. I might have loved him and I know he loved me but it wasn't the heart stopping love we have."

Noah relived the painful past. "When you told me that we were not right for each other . . . ."

Guilt took over Luke's face as he interrupted Noah. "I was wrong, Noah."

"No, in a way you were right. We kept hurting each other," Noah paused. "What did I know about having a relationship? The only thing I learned from my father was how to hurt someone. I didn't even know what love was until I met you and even then, I couldn't stop causing you pain."

"My parents know love but they know nothing about how to have a relationship. They go from one drama to another," Luke said sadly. "I guess I picked that up from them. I should talk to Faith, Nat, and Ethan about it, so they don't make the mistakes I've made."

"We both struggled through, not really knowing how to have a proper relationship. When I came to Los Angeles, I started seeing a therapist, you know, just to talk things over. She helped me figure things out where things went wrong and why. I saw her until right after Lu was born. She helped me forgive Maria and to forgive myself," Noah had a look of peace on his face. "When I saw Nathan, or should I say Dallas?" Noah shook his head in anger, "it was a relationship of convenience. There were no strings but if that relationship had continued, I bet I would have developed feelings for him." Noah smiled. "The things that man did to my body . . . ,"

"Hey, I do not want to know," Luke laughed. "But if we do get to that stage again, I want you to show me."

"Deal," Noah smiled at the thought. "I think we will."

"I do too," Luke said with a smile.

"Listen, it's getting late," Noah yawned. "It's been a long day, how about we pick this up later?"

"Sounds good," Luke sounded sleepy.

Luke and Noah got up from the couch, Luke walked to the guestroom as Noah walked to his bedroom.

Noah turned around as he got to his door. "Goodnight, Luke. I'm really glad you are here."

Luke stopped and turned around at the door of the guestroom and smiled. "Same here."

Noah grinned, turned off the light in the living room and they both walked into their rooms.


	6. Chapter 6

It has been six months since Luke moved out to Los Angeles to be with Noah. They talked a lot about their past and both had the impression that the other was more mature and could handle their relationship better than the first time around. They both worried if they could have again, what they had before but their fears seemed unfounded as they re-bonded rather quickly. So quick in fact, Luke and Noah were getting antsy around each other. They had fallen deeply in love again and were chomping at the bit to have sex but Noah held off Luke because he wanted to make it special.

Luke, Noah, and Lu were in the kitchen eating breakfast. "What are your plans today?"

"It's been six months since Nathan. I was thinking of going down to get tested again," replied Noah.

Luke chastised himself. It didn't occur to him that he should too. "Do you mind if I go with you?"

"Sure. I'd like that," Noah was happy Luke wanted to get tested with him.

-P-

A few evenings later, Noah seemed anxious to get out of the house. He arranged a workout and a game of handball for them. He almost pushed Luke out the door.

"Why are you rushing, Noah?" Luke wanted to know what was going on.

"I just have pent up energy that I need to work off," Noah replied without lying. The truth is that he was dying to get into Luke's pants, well, his ass to be specific and he hoped tonight was the night. Their tests had come back clean.

When they got to the gym, they both waved at Tony as they walked by the counter. They went in the locker room, changed into their workout clothes, and started working out.

Over the last six months, Noah and Luke had been working out on an almost daily basis. Both men looked like they stepped out of a page of Men's Fitness Magazine. Noah's workout plan was doing wonders for Luke who was more muscular and toned now than he has ever been. Luke and Tony were becoming fast friends, often chatting after workouts or dinners with Noah and Tony's partner.

-P-

They spent the first hour working out with weights and then they went to Tony's new restaurant next door, which Noah was in investor in, to get some protein in them before going back and playing a game of handball. The restaurant was mostly for the gym clientele but word of mouth was making it a popular restaurant in the neighborhood. It was getting a little late by this time but Noah wanted to play handball, so Luke agreed to it.

After the game was over, Luke noticed that it was after ten o'clock. There were only a few people left in the gym as they walked into the locker room hand in hand. Luke could see that Noah was nervous about something. They walked to their lockers, which were in the back row of the locker room, in a corner, hidden from view of the rest of the room. Luke opened up his locker but Noah stood behind Luke, staring at Luke's ass.

Luke turned his head to look at Noah. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Noah stepped up behind Luke and started to kiss the back of his neck as his arms went around Luke.

"Hmm . . . that's nice," Luke was enjoying the feel of Noah's lips on his neck.

"I thought you would like it," Noah said between kisses. Noah pressed his growing erection into Luke's ass as he intensified the kissing of Luke's neck. Luke was soon moaning.

Luke noticed that Noah was getting bolder. When he felt Noah's erection on his ass, he turned around to face Noah. "What are you doing?"

"I'm showing you how much I love you, Luke," Noah kissed Luke again. Luke responded by kissing Noah back fervently.

Luke broke the kiss. "Can't you show me when we get . . ." He finally understood what Noah wanted. "Wait, you want to have sex in the locker room?"

Noah cupped the side of Luke's face with his hand and looked into Luke's eyes. "Yes!"

The amount of passion Noah put into that one word, almost made Luke cum on the spot. "But here . . . why?"

Noah looked Luke in the eyes. "Four different kinds of meat."

"Huh?" Luke thought back and finally remembered the conversation in Java all those years ago. "Hey, this is like . . . . You want our first time here?"

"Yes. Now, shut up and let's fuck."

Luke pulled Noah back to him and gave him a kiss that Noah would likely never forget. As they continued to kiss, Noah soon had Luke's back pressed against the lockers. Noah reached for the bottom of Luke's shirt and pulled over his head. His eyes roaming over Luke's muscular body only made the fire in his loins burn hotter. He began licking and kissing his way down Luke's neck and down to his chest. He stopped at the nipples to give it a bite and a few licks, as Luke moaned with pleasure, he kept going until he was on his knees.

Luke began to tingle all over. He knew how great sex with Noah was and it has been a long time since he had sex with anyone. Mix that in with the excitement of having taboo sex in a public locker room and he was in heaven.

Noah knelt down in front of Luke and started rubbing Luke's growing bulge. "What do you want me to do, Luke?"

"Take off my shoes, socks, and shorts but leave my jock on."

Noah followed Luke's orders. He slowly took off Luke's shoes, socks and his shorts. He licked Luke's jock covered erection.

"Take it out, Noah," ordered Luke.

Noah, once again, followed his instructions and pulled Luke's jock to the side, releasing Luke's thick eight-inch cock. Noah immediately, took it into his mouth and sucked it down to the base.

"Jesus, Noah," Luke moaned in pleasure. "That's it. Suck it."

Noah sucked, like he's never sucked before.

"That's it . . . take it all," moaned Luke loudly.

Noah continued sucking Luke for a while until he turned him around, and pulling Luke's ass towards him and shoving his tongue up Luke's hole.

"That's it, Noah, eat my ass," Noah followed Luke's orders and ate like his life depended on it. He spit on his finger and shoved it up Luke's hole.

"That's it Noah, finger fuck me," Luke moaned as Noah loosened him up as he slipped a second finger and then a third into Luke.

Luke just could not take it anymore. He had to get fucked by Noah. He needed to get fucked by Noah. "Fuck me, Noah, please," begged Luke.

-P-

The boys did not know that the echo that was naturally in a locker room was transferring their voices to the weight room. Their voices resonated loud and clear. Everyone stopped working out, moved over to the vent, and sat on the weight equipment listening to the couple doing it in the locker room.

Tony noticed the commotion and he came out from behind his desk to see what the trouble was. When he walked into the weight room, he could hear moaning through the vents. Tony was a guy who'd seen and done it all in his forty years. He was not the least bit surprised by someone having sex in his locker room. It happened all the time. He only wondered who it was this time.

-P-

Noah got up from his knees and pulled off his shirt and shorts. He moved his jock out of the way, grabbed some lube out of his bag in his locker and lined up his dick to Luke's ass and started shoving his cock up Luke's ass slowly. "That's it Luke, take my nine inch cock all the way," moaned Noah. Luke was moaning with him. "God, you are so tight."

Tony recognized Noah's voice. "Nine inches . . . shit!" Tony said. Several of the guys around him agreed with him and several others just gasped.

"That's it Noah. I forgot how great your big cock felt in my ass. Shove it all in," moaned Luke. Noah did just what Luke wanted and causing him to moan even louder. "Yeah, that's it. Now fuck me."

Noah did not have to be asked twice. He started pounding Luke up against the lockers.

Moments later, Noah turned Luke around, moving Luke's back up against the lockers. "Here's a trick I learned from Nathan." He took one of Luke's legs and put it over his shoulder. Luke grabbed the locks on the lockers for support as Noah moved his other leg over the empty shoulder. Noah sank his cock slowly back into Luke.

Luke had never been taken this way and it was a huge turn on for him. He was feeling all the pleasure from this position and yelled out. "Thank you Nathan."

Everyone in the weight room could hear the locks on the lockers rattle and they knew exactly what was going on.

"That's it Noah, fuck my hole," moaned Luke.

All of a sudden the rattling stopped. Noah had pulled Luke from against the lockers and laid him on the bench and started fucking him again.

"Take my cock, bitch," yelled Noah. "That's it, take it like the bitch you are."

Luke was surprised Noah was being so vocal during sex. He was never that way before but he was turned on by Noah's gutter mouth. "Give it to me, Noah, harder . . . harder!" ordered Luke.

Noah picked up his pace and was soon ready to cum. "I'm going to cum, Luke," yelled Noah. Noah could not hold out any longer and cummed in Luke's ass.

At the same time, Luke yelled out. "I'm cumming, Noah."

It was one of the most intense orgasms they've had. When they settled down, Noah pulled out of Luke and laid down on top of him. Luke began to kiss Noah as his passion began to grow again and was soon hard again. "Thanks, Noah. That was the best sex I think we ever had but we are not done yet."

"We aren't?" Noah replied with surprise.

"Get in the shower now . . . bitch," ordered Luke.

Noah got up with a smile and walked over to the shower. He got in and turned it on. Luke stepped up behind Noah and turned him around. He reached behind Noah, took some of Noah's waterproof lube, and started to lube him up.

"That's it, Luke, stick another one in . . . aahhh, yeah, that it . . . deeper," Noah moaned loudly.

"Who's the bitch now?"

"I am . . . I am," Noah sounded almost too excited.

"That's right. You're my bitch. Don't you _ever_ forget it!"

"Fuck me, Luke. I have to have you in me."

Luke got up from his knees and turned Noah around. He lubed up his cock and sank it into Noah. He held it there as they both moaned in pleasure. Luke started to move his cock in and out of Noah's ass, causing Noah to moan louder, but the fucking did not last ten minutes before both men were on the verge of cumming again.

"Cum in my ass, Luke, make me yours."

"I'm cumming . . . ," moaned Luke as Noah came with him.

Luke leaned against Noah so they could both catch their breath. He took the soap and started to wash down his reclaimed lover.

Noah cried as Luke washed him. "I'm so sorry. It was my fault, Luke, I was a total asshole." Noah knew they had already talked about this but he could not control his emotions.

Luke turned Noah around and they wrapped their arms around each other. "You were hurting and I didn't know at the time how to help you."

"I'm so sorry for hurting you," Noah put his head on Luke's shoulder and cried out his pain.

Luke was touched by Noah's honesty and pain. "Its okay, Noah, it is over now. We are starting out new."

Noah raised his tear-filled eyes and looked directly into Luke's. "I'll never leave you again, Luke."

"You better not bitch!" Luke snickered.

Noah giggled through his falling tears.

The _audience_ was in tears. They just had two highs and now this touching moment from lovers who found themselves together again after a long separation.

Noah took his turn and washed every inch of Luke, slowly and sensually. When they were done, they dried themselves off and got into their clothes. They headed for the door of the locker room and when they opened it, they got the shock of their lives. Standing on the other side of the door were ten guys, including Tony.

"Oh, no," Luke said in fear.

"Oh yes," smiled Tony.

Some of the guys started clapping. Luke and Noah turned beet red.

"Tony, we are so sorry," Noah said.

"Don't worry about it. It's a gay gym. It happens more than you think," Tony could only laugh at their embarrassment.

"Still, we are sorry," replied Luke.

"Don't be. That was the hottest sex I have ever heard coming out of the locker room," Tony was impressed.

"I'm glad we could make it good for you. It was certainly great for us," snickered Noah.

Luke was surprised to see how relaxed Noah was about it.

They were able to sneak out with some dignity left. They walked down the street and Noah stopped at the local deli to pick up some supper as Luke waited outside on a bench. When they got home, Lu was sleeping on the couch in Abby's apartment. Luke picked Lu up carefully and carried him up to their apartment and laid him down in his own bed.

Noah was happy that Lu took to Luke so quickly. Within a few days of Luke being in Los Angeles, Lu was acting as if he had known Luke all his life and Luke was great with Lu, just like he was with his own sisters and little brother. Once he was in bed, Luke and Noah had a romantic dinner on the deck.

Luke saw Noah walking onto the deck with a tray full of food and two drinks. "What do you have there?"

"I made us some sandwiches."

Luke started laughing. "Four different kinds of meat, I bet."

"Yes, but only the lean ones on a fresh baked whole grain roll with some cut up raw vegetables with dip and some iced tea."

"What, no protein shake?"

"Yeah, we had those earlier and hopefully, again before we go to bed," Noah winked at Luke.

Luke's face broke out into a big grin. He grabbed one of the sandwiches. "Wow, the bread is still warm."

They ate, not saying much, but stared at each other the entire time. After dinner, they sat on the couch on the deck looking out at the lights of the city for a while, with Luke sitting against Noah as they kissed every so often. They decided it was time to go to bed so they got up, walked off the deck, and locked the door. Noah grabbed Luke's hand and guided him towards his bedroom.

"Noah, I don't think I could . . . ."

Noah turned and looked into Luke's eyes. "No, Luke, I want you to sleep in here with me."

Luke put his hands on Noah's face. "Are you sure, Noah?"

"Yes, and tomorrow, you're moving your things into my room."

"I am?" Luke was in shock.

Noah looked into Luke's eyes and ran his fingers through Luke's hair. "Yes. We've wasted enough time, Luke. I want to sleep with you in our bed, in our room and in our apartment. I want to wake up with you every morning snuggled into my side with your head on my chest or us spooning."

Luke's eyes were on the verge of tears and a slight tremble overtook his voice. "I want that too, Noah."

Noah wiped away Luke's tears. He wanted to let Luke know exactly where their relationship was going. "I want to give us more time but I love you, Luke and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want my son to call you papa. I don't want to push you but I never want us to be apart again."

Luke framed Noah's face with his hands and met his lover's eyes with his own. "I want all of that too, Noah. I will move into your room tomorrow and I never want to be apart from you ever again. I think in a couple months, we can talk more about the other stuff."


	7. Chapter 7

Six months later, Luke and Noah had planned their first birthday party for Lu as a couple. It had been a year since Luke showed up at Noah's door.

The renovations to the new apartment building Noah purchased were finalized. Noah had taken down the wall between the two properties, put in a large elongated patio in the center, and put out patio furniture and eight picnic tables with umbrellas for their tenants to use. He even picked up eight charcoal hibachis similar to those found at national parks and built them into the patio. It was becoming a popular place for the tenants to hang out and barbeque.

Noah was three months into his full-length movie with another six months of filming to go. It was shaping up to be a new Titanic type of a love story and the scenes he was watching proved it out. Noah liked to film mostly in sequence. The film was split into four parts and after each part was filmed, they would begin editing while Noah was filming the next part. That way, the film could be done quicker, which would save the studio money and helped if any reshoots were needed.

Luke was still writing. His idea blossomed into a book. He was busy writing and taking a creative writing course at the local college. The foundation hosted several fundraising galas and Luke had met a number of representatives from shipping companies for World Wide in Los Angeles.

Luke and Noah have been getting even closer. Romance took over their personal lives. Noah started to bring flowers home with him, once a week. Noah said they were for the table but Luke got him to admit that he bought them for him. The flowers would contain a poem or a note that Noah wrote for Luke. Luke kept all the notes and put them in a box where Noah would not find them.

-P-

After dinner, a week before Lu's birthday, Luke and Noah sat on the couch talking while Lu played on the floor.

"Luke, how about we have a romantic dinner on Saturday night, just the two of us?" Noah asked hopefully.

"You know, I was going to ask you the same thing," Luke smiled at Noah.

"Good, then I'll make reservations at San Estephe for us."

Luke pulled slightly away from Noah to look at him in the eyes. "Oh, very fancy,"

"I've already asked Abby. She won't have a problem watching him all night."

Luke looked at Noah. "You were so sure I would say yes."

"Of course. Rumor has it that you are always ready for a romantic dinner," Noah smiled.

"I sure am, especially when it's with a hot stud," Luke winked at Noah.

"You will be happy to know that two hot studs will be there," Noah winked back.

Luke pulled Noah in for a deep kiss, which was interrupted rather quickly by an attention-seeking child in the room.

"So, Lu, what do you want for your birthday?" Luke and Noah had already shopped for Lu but he wanted Lu to have the fun of telling them.

Lu's eyes lit up with excitement as he jumped onto the couch on the laps of Luke and Noah. He started to ramble off what he wanted, as only kids can do.

-P-

The week seemed to fly by. It was two days before Lu's birthday. When Luke and Noah left the apartment, Noah had a limousine waiting for them. They had their nice romantic dinner and drove back to the apartment. Noah took Luke up on the deck and opened a bottle of sparkling apple cider. They drank their sparkling cider at the railing of the deck, staring out at the view until Noah put his glass down, turned toward Luke, and looked into his eyes.

"Luke, when you came out here a year ago, I wasn't sure if we could work out our issues but I think we are even closer than we were before," Noah paused. "I love you so much. This year has been the happiest I've been in a long time and I know it's because of you. Luke, I think we should take the next step." Noah pulled out a ring box and opened it to show Luke two rings. Luke's heart skipped when his eyes darted to the ring box Noah was holding. Noah got down on one knee and said "Luke, will you marry me."

"Yes, Noah, I will marry you," pulling Noah into a kiss.

After several minutes, their kiss broke and Noah went to pull out a ring but Luke stopped him.

"I don't know how to say this but I thought of this too," Luke pulled a ring box out of his pocket and showed it to Noah. They both broke out laughing.

"Well, you have to ask me?" Noah teased.

"But you already asked me."

"I don't care. You bought rings too, so you have to ask. It's a rule . . . I think," Noah laughed.

"Okay . . . ," Luke got down on one knee. "Bubby, I know things haven't always been easy for us but this past year, I've been happier than I've ever been in my life and that's because of you. I wake up every morning thinking what a wonderful life I have out here in Los Angeles with you and Lu. I would have never thought that leaving Oakdale would have been one of the best things I've done in life but I wouldn't want to be any place else, than here with you. Will you marry me, Noah?"

"Yes, Luke, I will marry you," Noah choked back his tears.

They sealed their engagement with a kiss, which turned into a heavy make out session that is until they were rudely interrupted by the doorbell.

Noah was frustrated. "Who the hell can that be?"

They both walked across the deck to the door leading to the apartment, making their way into the apartment and to the front door. When they opened the door, they found Lucinda, Emma, Holden, Lily, Faith, Natalie, and Ethan at the door.

"I thought you were coming tomorrow?" Noah frustration was evident in his voice.

"We got a little excited about Lu's birthday," Emma was excited.

Luke was standing behind Noah. Luke whispered in Noah's ear. "We've been cock blocked."

Noah giggled but managed to invite Luke's family into the living room. Ethan rushed to hug Noah first, as he usually did.

"Did we get here too late?" Lily hoped they were not too late.

Noah looked at Luke. He must have told Lily about the proposal he was going to make to Noah. "Too late for what?" he replied cautiously.

"To see Lu before he went to bed."

"Oh, that. I thought you meant . . . um . . . he's at the sitter's tonight," Noah stopped.

Luke knew what Noah was going to say.

"What did you think Lily meant?" Lucinda asked curiously.

Luke and Noah looked at each other and Luke nodded his head for Noah to tell their family the big news.

"I just asked Luke to marry me."

Everyone gasped but did not say anything.

"And I said . . . ," Luke stopped to make it more dramatic. ". . . Yes!"

Lily started to cry as she hugged her son. Emma, who was closest to Noah, congratulated the groom-to-be. Holden and Lucinda were the last of the group to offer up their congratulations to the happy couple.

"Okay, where's the ring?" Lucinda wanted to get down the important stuff. "There has to be a ring for it to be a proper engagement."

"Well, there's a story to that," Luke laughed. "We both planned on popping the question tonight, so we both have rings."

Everyone laughed at the boys' double proposal but it became serious very quickly. Luke and Noah had to describe every detail of the proposal to the women.

"Let me see them!" Lucinda did not fool around when rings were involved. Luke and Noah handed Lucinda their ring boxes and then stood next to each other. Luke wrapped an arm around Noah's waist. Noah's box was black and Luke's was blue. Lucinda opened up the black box and was impressed. "Oh darling, it's gorgeous!"

"Yes!" Noah exclaimed. He was happy Lucinda loved the ring.

Lucinda rolled her eyes at Noah's response as all the adults rushed over to see the ring. Luke attempted to walk over but Noah stopped him and told him playfully to not even try to sneak a peek at the rings. Everyone gave their approval at Noah's choice of the rings. Lucinda then opened up Luke's box and started giggling.

"What wrong with it?" Luke asked defensively.

"No darling, they are beautiful." Everyone around Lucinda started giggling as they saw the rings. "We are laughing because they are the exact same rings."

"What?" Luke and Noah sounded like twins. They walked over and looked. Sure enough, they were the same rings.

"They are beautiful. What are they?" asked Emma.

"It's a 2.05 carat, radiant cut tanzanite set in 18 carat white gold."

"Tanzanite is very rare. They must have cost a fortune," Lucinda was impressed by their choice.

"They did," Luke and Noah sounded off. They looked at each other and laughed.

"But it was worth it," said Noah. He looked at Lucinda. "Did I do good?"

"Yes, you did, darling."

Noah breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid of your reaction."

"Why?"

"I was afraid you would think it wasn't worthy of a Walsh heir."

Lucinda laughed at the suggestion. Well, he was not completely wrong. "You did great. I am proud of you. Are you going to put it on him now?"

"Sure, give me Luke's box."

"Why his?" Holden was curious to know.

"My set is engraved. We can use those for the wedding."

"What does it say?" asked Luke.

"You have to wait till we get married," Noah teased.

"That's not very nice, Noah," Luke looked a bit ticked off.

"Okay, take a look," Noah gave in rather quickly.

Luke took a ring out of Noah's box and looked at it. Tears started rolling down his face. "Worth the wait. Just like my watch. It's perfect."

Noah took the ring out of Luke's hand and put it back in his ring box. He then pulled a ring out of Luke's ring box and put it on Luke's finger. "You are definitely worth the wait, Snyder."

Luke pulled the remaining ring out of the box and put it on Noah's finger. "You are worth the wait too, Mayer."

Luke and Noah gave each other a big kiss and wiped away each other's tears. Everyone smiled at the happy couple. A few moments later, after all the congratulations, Luke and Noah started to get the beds ready for everyone.

-P-

Then next morning, there was a knock on the front door. Noah knew it was Lu. He got up off the sofa sleeper and opened the door. Lu jumped into his dad's arms and gave him a big hug. Luke always misted up when he saw Noah and Lu together. He had never known Noah to be so peaceful, so relaxed, as when he was with Lu. It could be something as simple as just sleeping on the couch together with Lu lying across Noah's chest or reading a book at bedtime. The softness of Noah's heart showed itself. That softness always made Luke tear up.

"Guess who's here?" said Noah as he placed his son on the sofa bed so he could say good morning to Luke.

"Granpa?" replied Lu. Lu ran over and dropped on Luke.

"Yes, and all three Grandma's, and Ethan, Faith and Nat," Luke was still lying in bed as he hugged is future son.

"Yeah!" He got up and hugged his dad again.

Lu noticed the ring on his father's hand. "What's that?"

"It's an engagement ring. I asked Luke to marry me."

Lu did not know exactly what that meant.

"That means that Luke will become your papa when we get married. Would you like to have a second dad?"

Lu could not hide his excitement and went running to Luke, wrapped his little arms around him. "I want you to be my papa," he cried out. Noah ruffled his son's hair leaning over to kiss his future husband. "Does that mean I gonna to get a brother or sister?"

Luke and Noah were taken aback at his question.

Noah did not quite know what to say. "Do you want a brother or sister?"

Lu shook his head like a bobblehead. "Isn't that what appens?"

Luke and Noah looked at each other in shock.

"Well, it's not as easy as that, in our case?"

"Why?"

"Well, we are both guys."

Lu just looked at him with a blank stare. Noah knew Lu did not know where babies came from.

"Are you sure you would like a little brother or sister?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I guess we can talk about it. We could have in vitro or adopt."

"Is that where babies come from?" Lu asked innocently.

"How about we talk about this later?" Noah did not really want to have this conversation now. "I have an idea. Let's get the video camera and you can pounce grandpa and grandmas as I film it."

Lu giggled. "Yeah."

Luke laughed at Noah's idea, and how quickly it got Lu's young inquiring mind away from the babies question.

Noah went to his office to get his camera and returned to the living room. They all snuck into the master bedroom and decided to wake Luke's parents first. Luke picked up Lu and placed him at the foot of the bed. He looked over at Noah with a grin on his face.

"Go!" Noah whispered.

"Granma... Granpa," Lu yelled as he jumped on them.

Lily and Holden were startled at someone pouncing on them but soon realized it was their grandson. They have had experience with their own kids sneaking into their room in early hours of the morning.

"I missed you," Lu said to Lily as he laid down on her and gave her a big hug.

"How's Grandma's favorite little pumpkin?" Lily tickled her grandson.

"Good," giggled Lu.

"Happy birthday, sport," Holden was enjoying seeing Lu and Lily together.

"Thanks Granpa," he pulled away from Lily's tickling fingers and into Holden's loving embrace.

Lily was a little upset that she had to give up Lu so quickly. They talked for a few minutes before they all got up and went to pounce Grandma Em and Grandma Lu. Lu decided not to pounce Emma or Lucinda. He just squeezed into Emma's arms as she lay on her side and gave her a big sloppy kiss.

"Did a handsome birthday boy just kiss me?" Emma said as she woke up with a huge smile.

"It's me, Granma."

"Good morning, Lu," Emma kissed him on the forehead.

"I missed you granma. Did you bring me cookies?"

Emma laughed, along with everyone standing in the doorway.

"He's certainly your son," Luke whispered into Noah's ear.

"Of course, I brought cookies,"

"Yeah!" yelled Lu.

Noah whispered into Luke's ear, "Yeah!" Luke giggled.

Lu was soaking up all of Emma's attention until he saw Lucinda. With a squeal, he broke out of Emma's grasp and into Lucinda's open arms.

"Hi Granma Lu, I missed you," giggled Lu.

"I missed you too, darling," Lucinda kissed him on the cheek.

Before anyone could say anything else, everyone could hear Lu's loud stomach noises. Noah turned off the camera, went in to start the coffeemaker, and began to prepare breakfast. Everyone washed up and by the time they walked into the kitchen, they saw Luke, Noah, and Abby, who bought groceries again, making breakfast. Luke went around with coffee decanter and filled a cup as they sat down at the kitchen table.

"I have an announcement to make," Luke spoke up. "As you know, I've been shopping my book around and well, Scholastic wants to publish it."

"Oh honey, that's fantastic," Lily smiled at Luke.

Everyone offered their congratulations, except for Lucinda. She wanted to publish Luke's book but Luke wanted to accomplish it on his own without the family's help. "Congratulations darling but I wish you would have used my publishing company." Lucinda sounded a bit miffed.

"I know you do and I explained my reasons to you Grandmother." Luke had wanted to publish a book by himself and not just because he was the grandson of Lucinda Walsh.

Abby could feel the tension rising in the kitchen, so she thought a change in subject was in order. "That house in Malibu is up for sale, Noah."

"What was some house," replied Noah, remembering the party.

"What house is that?" asked Lucinda.

"Abby and her husband dragged me to a party at a house in Malibu just before Luke came out to Los Angeles. It was a ten-bedroom, eleven-bathroom house on the ocean with its own private beach."

"Is it nice?"

"It could be. It's not been kept up properly. The owners have been having financial troubles since the old man got sick about five years ago and the house has been neglected."

"Sounds interesting. Maybe we can go in together?" Lucinda looked around the room.

Noah was shocked. "It could be a good investment. The house has a lot of cosmetic issues but the bones looked good. If it was fixed up, it could be a real gem."

Luke was curious as to why Lucinda wanted to see the place. "Why are you interested, Grandmother?"

Lucinda looked at Luke. "Well, darling, as nice as this apartment is, it's pretty small to fit us all in here." Luke could not argue with that. "And with you and Noah getting married . . . ."

"What?" Abby had a surprised look on her face.

Noah flashed her the ring on his finger. Abby shrieked with delight as she threw her arms around him and then Luke.

"If I'm going to open up an office here in Los Angeles, I'm going to be flying out more often, bringing family with me. . . ," Lucinda continued.

"But?" Luke could tell she was beating around the bush about something.

She knew she was going to have to say it. "As nice as this neighborhood is, darling, it's Los Angeles. Some of the neighborhoods we have to drive through aren't that nice."

"Mrs. Walsh does have a point. I do avoid several surrounding neighborhoods myself." Abby offered her opinion.

"See and with the both of you becoming more well known, you will need a more . . . um . . . formal and secure setting to bring people to," Lucinda stumbled on what word to use.

Lily agreed with her mother. While this neighborhood was a good one, some neighborhoods around were frightening to her. "The ocean is not something we get to see very often. A Snyder compound at the ocean would be great." Lily nudged Holden, which everyone saw.

Holden added to the conversation. "Uh . . . yeah."

"Let's take a look at it this afternoon or tomorrow," Lucinda spoke up.

"Okay," Noah was a little shocked at agreeing with some of what Lucinda said but living at the beach would be better than living anywhere else in Los Angeles. "I'll call George, my realtor." Noah picked up his cell to call George. Lucinda had a big grin on her face. Luke and Abby were in shock at Noah's agreement.

George answered the phone. "Good morning, George, it's Noah Mayer. Do you know who's listing the house on Cliffside Drive in Malibu?"

"Good morning, Noah. I believe Bill has that listing. Are you interested?"

"Yes. The house is a wreck but the location is great."

George knew Noah could not afford the house. "It's a little above your price range, Noah. I think it's around thirty million."

"Hold on a minute, George," he turned to Lucinda, "It's around thirty million and probably another five to ten million in renovations."

"Chump change. Shall we all go in on it? It would be nice to have a house in California," Lucinda looked around to Lily and Holden, Luke and then back to Noah. Everyone agreed to, at least, have a look.

"Are you sure?" Noah still could not believe they wanted to look at this house.

"Let's see it this morning," replied Emma.

"George, we want to see it this morning."

"Noah, I know your finances. Bill will want some reassurance that on a short notice viewing, that you can afford the property."

"I'm here making breakfast for the three largest investors in World Wide, Inc. and the two owners of one the best horse breeding farms in the country."

"Lucinda Walsh is in your kitchen?"

"Yes, Lucinda is here," Noah winked at Lucinda.

Lucinda smiled, while Luke and Lily frowned that they were not mentioned.

"Okay, I'll give him a call and have him meet us there at eleven this morning?"

"That would be good."

"Okay, I'll see you there with Bill, then."

"Great. Thanks George," Noah hung up the phone. "We will have to leave after breakfast, it's about an hour to get there in traffic."

Abby was taken aback with what just happened. She had no idea of the wealth that sat in Noah's kitchen. She nudged Noah and whispered to him, "You lucky bitch."

Noah laughed. "I know a certain married couple who we will never be able to get rid of."

"You got that right."

"Well, breakfast is served. How about we eat up on the deck?" asked Noah.

"That's sounds great, Noah," Luke said happily.

Everyone grabbed their coffee and Noah, Luke, and Abby grabbed breakfast and they all followed Lu up to the deck to enjoy the clear morning.

"Will you have any money to go into this house with us?"

"Not nearly enough," Noah's face dropped. "Most of my money is tied up in the building next door. I did however come in under budget and I didn't exceed my profits each month."

"That's great, Noah," Lucinda thought for a second. "Well, we could loan you the money. We can write it up in the contract that you become part owner as you pay us."

"No, Noah and I are getting married. If we do this, I can pay for our share. Noah and I can make an agreement between ourselves, like our first apartment," Luke winked at Noah. Luke knew that Noah would want to pay for half. After what he just said, Luke realized that he had been in Los Angeles a year and Noah had not asked him to pay for anything.

Noah could tell that Luke knew already what he wanted and was grateful that it would n not be a big deal for them.

"You know, I could pay cash for it myself but I think we should buy it together. A place for all of us and not just something one of us owns and everyone visits," Lucinda was excited about this purchase.


	8. Chapter 8

After breakfast was finished, all took their turn getting ready for the hour-long drive to Malibu. Before they departed in the rented limousine that Lucinda called for, Noah pulled Abby aside to make final preparations for Lu's birthday at six o'clock that evening.

They arrived at the house just as the realtors pulled in. The house was right on the ocean. It was noted that the house needed a lot of work but it looked to be mostly cosmetic, as the bones seemed to be good shape. The views were spectacular. The ocean was a vibrant blue and the water looked clean. They took a tour of the house's nine bedroom, ten bathrooms, large living room, kitchen, dining room, study, twenty-person movie theater slash media room, upstairs offices and the fifteen-car garage, plus several other smaller rooms of the house. Everyone seemed to be impressed with what they saw and could see the potential. Lucinda called a pow-wow in the outdated kitchen and they all decided to buy the house. For the size and location, it was a good deal. The new ecstatic and hopeful owners returned to the realtors waiting in the living room.

Lucinda broke the good news. "We will take it, after we get it inspected, of course."

"How will you finance this property?" Bill inquired.

Lucinda gave him a strange look. Did the idiot not know whom he was talking to? "Finance?" she laughed, "once the owner has agreed to our price and contract, I will have my real estate attorney transfer the funds in full." Lucinda handed him her real estate attorney's business card.

George and Bill were standing there with their eyes wide open. Nobody paid cash in this economy but Lucinda did not see the need in a mortgage. It would just end up costing them more in the end to finance the property than paying cash.

On the way back to Luke and Noah's, everyone shared their ideas about how they wanted the house to look like and agreed that a designer should be hired to coordinate everyone's views but they thought the ocean should be focal point of the house.

-P-

Several months later, Luke and Noah were sitting in the kitchen sipping on a cup of coffee and enjoying the quiet while Lu was still sleeping.

"So what's on the agenda today?" asked Noah as he sipped his morning coffee.

"I'm headed down to Malibu to check on the house. I'm taking Lu and Abby with me and we will be spending the day at the beach," Luke replied with a huge grin.

"Poor, Luke. Just make sure you don't pick up any construction guys," Noah teased.

"There is no need when I already have a sexy muscle man," Luke kissed Noah.

"That's true," giggled Noah. Luke playfully hit him on the arm. "I know Lu is going to love spending the day at the beach . . . Abby too." Noah laughed knowing Abby's love of the beach. "She probably woke up at five o'clock, just to get ready."

Luke had to laugh. He knew Noah was right. "You're just jealous."

"Damn right. I have scenes to shoot today. I'm not a man of leisure like you are," Noah teased.

Luke could not suppress his laugh. "Hey Mr. Smartass, it's not my fault your job isn't flexible like mine." Luke did work with the foundation and on his book while Lu was in school or with Abby, so he was not a man of much leisure.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Well, if you are nice to me, I'll let you take my car."

A smile broke out on Luke's face. "Which one?"

Noah had a red hybrid Camaro SS convertible and a Chevrolet Volt, which he used the most to commute to work but since Luke was in town, he switched to his Camaro for commuting, while Luke drove the Volt because driving Lu around was much nicer with a four-door vehicle.

Noah smiled. He knew which vehicle Luke wanted to take. "I'll let you take the Camaro."

"Yes!" Luke absolutely loved the car. There was just something so Californian about driving to the beach in a convertible. Luke jumped into Noah's lap, wrapped his arms around Noah, and pulled him in for a big kiss. "How about I be nice to you tonight when I get back . . . you know, after we put Lu to bed?" Luke ran his hand up and down Noah's chest.

"I think that would be a great idea as long as you don't get sunburned like last time," Noah laughed as he kissed Luke. "I better get Lu up so I can see him before I have to leave. I can't believe I'm going to work and you are going to the beach." Noah groaned. Luke just smiled as he stood up.

They walked out of the kitchen arm in arm to wake up Lu.

-P-

Luke had been working daily with a designer to come up with plans to have the house a livable elegance. It was to be their showpiece, a place to bring friends and family but also Hollywood elites, business clients and foundation contributors. He contacted David after watching him on HGTV and wanted him to design the house. When HGTV heard of the project, they wanted to tape the renovations at the house for a show. Luke and Noah agreed after talking with the family. It would be free advertising for the farm, foundation, World Wide, Luke and Noah's careers.

They restored the house to the original Spanish inspired architecture, while adding in modern conveniences. Decorating was not as difficult as they originally thought. They went for an elegant beach theme for the house. There was not much color in the house and there was not much decoration because it seemed to clash with the view out of the many large windows in the house.

They also decided to eco-friendly with the house. Turbines were installed in the rocky area on each side of the property and solar panels on the roof to create their own electricity to store and use if there were a black out but also to sell back to the power company when the batteries were full. They also added several solar hot water heaters for the showers and kitchen along with several cisterns around the property to collect rainwater from the gutters and the areas where water gathered on the property to use for watering the lawn and plants. The one object that was not very green was the generator that was added but when the weather was hot for extended periods of time, the west coast could have rolling blackouts. It was decided that it was a necessity to have a few things like a few bathrooms, the appliances in the kitchen, air conditioning, and basic lighting on the generator.


	9. Chapter 9

Six months later, they were getting ready to move to the new house in Malibu. All the renovations were completed and the family was coming out to Los Angeles for the move in. Noah was not surprised when they showed up a day early.

After the greetings, Emma looked around the apartment. "How come you're not packed yet?"

"We are going to keep this place, just in case we need to use it," replied Luke.

"If we are tired, working late or there is an accident on the coast highway, we can stay here. If we find we do not use this much, we can switch to a smaller apartment here in the building and then rent this one out but I would hate to lose the roof deck," Noah was confident in their decision.

"Sounds like a great plan," Lily agreed with their thinking.

"How's the house look?" Lucinda was curious.

"It is amazing. You will not believe it's the same house."

"We are all excited to see it," Emma's voice resonated through the apartment.

"It turned out spectacular," Luke was proud of all the hard work it took but he knew it was worth it.

"We need to start getting the beds sorted out. I'm sure you are all tired," Noah knew they would be. "If we had known you all were coming, we could have had them all ready."

"We were just excited," Holden was getting impatient to see the house. He might have had to be _nudged_ into it but after he thought about it, he loved the idea of having a house on the beach.

"We just couldn't wait but we are worn out and it's going to be a busy day, tomorrow," Lily was tired but excited.

-P-

The next morning, everyone was up early getting ready before coming out of their rooms. They wanted to get on the road early and get to the new house. Emma came out of the guestroom and sat down on the couch next to Lu.

"We are moving today," Lu stated, turning his attention away from cartoons he was watching.

"Yes, I know. Are you excited?" replied Emma.

"I'm gonna miss it here," Lu made a sad face.

"Well, your daddy is going to keep this place."

"Good."

Everyone had filtered into the room as Emma and Lu had their conversation cut short by Lu's stomach growl.

"What are we doing for breakfast?" Emma wondered aloud.

"We didn't think we needed to keep any food here at the apartment. Everything we wanted is already moved to the house and the kitchen is fully stocked," said Noah. "We can get breakfast down the street."

Lu cried as they left the apartment but they reminded him that the house had a pool and an ocean. They had a quick breakfast and then were on the road to their new house at the ocean.

-P-

When they pulled into the driveway, everyone noticed how different the house looked. The property had a fresh coat of paint on it, everything was fixed and the landscaping was pristine. They walked around the outside of the house and showed Emma her surprise garden, just off the kitchen patio. It was not large but it had some peppers, tomatoes, herbs and other basic vegetables. They also showed them the fruit trees they planted along the edges of the property.

They kept walking around the property to the main patio of the house. The stone patio was repaired and power washed. The outdoor kitchen, barbeque, and outdoor oven was updated and cleaned. The pool and jacuzzi were retiled. New patio sets, deck chairs, umbrellas were out along the patio and the couches and chairs around the new fire pit matched the other patio furniture. Luke and Noah went around and opened all the umbrellas on the patio.

"I'm impressed. It's better than I ever imagined," Lucinda hugged both Luke and Noah.

"George came by yesterday when Noah and I were here. He said the house value was now worth fifty-five million."

"That's great, darling. Ten million more than we spent, that's good."

Noah shook his head. "It means we made the right changes to the house, which raised its value."

Lucinda was getting more and more impressed with Noah's business sense.

As nice as the house and patio looked, everyone stood there looking at the mountains and the ocean. The blue sky, green mountains, sandy beach and the blue ocean only enhanced the beauty of the place.

-P-

Pictures of house at Nukefic

-P-

Everyone gasped as soon as they walked into the house. It was just as pristine inside as it was on the outside. The first thing they noticed was the wide planked wood floors had been refinished. However, the kitchen caught everyone's eye. It was completely different from when they bought the house.

"David and I decided to take the storage room off the kitchen and make it into a pantry to keep all the extra food, a freezer, extra plates, glasses and anything else not needed on a daily basis, which allowed us get rid of a lot of cabinetry out here," Luke could tell everyone was shocked. "It gave us the freedom to knock down two walls, which opened the kitchen up the rest of the house and more importantly, to the view outside." Luke continued when nobody said anything. "We took out the wall between the kitchen and living room and also the kitchen and what was the dining room, which is now a great room."

"Darling, it's beautiful," Lucinda was almost speechless.

"I hope you're not upset with not having a formal dining room. Having everything open to the view seemed to make a lot more sense," Luke was almost afraid of what they were thinking. It was the one decision he made on his own after David suggested it. "It did not make sense to have two outdoor dining tables and also two indoor dining tables."

"It's great, Luke," exclaimed Emma.

"No, not at all, Luke. It's perfect," Lucinda spoke up.

Lily and Holden agreed with Lucinda and Emma. Luke was relieved that he made the right choice.

The large table in the kitchen was the crowning jewel to the whole design. It was reminiscent of the Snyder table. They had a second one, which was more rustic, in the covered outdoor kitchen, and the third, a large mosaic tiled table, down on a patio near the beach.

"The pantry is fully stocked with groceries. We have pie plates, bowls, mixers and everything else we would need for baking. We can show you were the stores are located and the farmers market," Noah spoke up. "We picked up some fresh fruit, including blueberries and raspberries for pies."

"The appliances are large in size because we figured we wanted the ability to host parties. Having foundation fundraisers, World Wide dinners or Noah's Hollywood friends here is half of the reason why we purchased this property," Luke added. "There is also a catering company and maid service close by. We have already introduced ourselves to them."

-P-

"Let's go see the bedrooms," Luke told everyone.

Everyone followed Luke and Noah down the hall that led to the bedrooms and into the master bedroom. Luke and Noah's bedroom was the master suite of the house. It had a large bed, lounge area, a fireplace, a patio facing the ocean, and an on-suite bathroom that had a large glass shower and a separate freestanding tub that looked out to the ocean.

After they toured the rest of the bedrooms and the other rooms in the house and they gathered back in the living room.

-P-

The living room opened up to the covered outdoor kitchen. The ocean view was spectacular. The white furniture was slipped covered, so they were easily washable. Most of the main rooms in the house were white because the outdoor views were so specular that any color on the wall looked dull compared to the beauty of their surroundings.

"We bought a hybrid Escalade so you would have something here to use without having to have a limo or rent a car for daily use," Noah spoke up.

"Abigail and Aaron are coming in tomorrow to see everyone," Luke said with a big smile.

Holden and Emma could not hide their excitement at hearing the news.

"Everything looks perfect. You guys did great," Lily was happy with the results.

"Well, enough of the tour. We are going to go out and play in the ocean with Lu, Faith, Ethan, and Natalie," Noah said, knowing the kids couldn't wait to play in the ocean. "But first, everyone needs to gather their stuff out of the garage and unpack in their rooms."

-P-

For the next hour, everyone was busy unpacking and arranging their rooms.

Emma finished putting her clothes away quickly and was in the kitchen making a few desserts and lunch.

The kids wanted to play in the water, so they all changed into their swimsuits and headed down to the ocean.

Lucinda and Lily were sitting on lounge chairs, in tank tops and shorts, watching a shirtless Luke and Noah playing with the kids in the ocean.

"They look so happy together." Lily still could not believe Luke and Noah were together.

"You know darling, Noah is looking quite good."

"Mother!"

"What? I have eyes, darling," Lucinda could not suppress her smile.

Lily laughed. She knew Lucinda was kidding but went along with it. "He is your grandson's future husband."

"He certainly picked a good one to marry. Better than that doctor. Bless his heart for what he did for Chris but Noah's much better suited for Luke and our family."

"I know. I worried about Luke when he started seeing Reid but it was his decision, so I did not interfere. I'm glad Luke is back with Noah."

They watched Luke walk up to Noah and give him a kiss.

"Our dear boy picked a good one," laughed Lucinda. "I can't remember the last time someone with muscles and _attributes_ like Noah's wanted to be romantic with me."

"Mother!" Lily replied in a slightly embarrassed, exasperated tone. She knew what her mother meant by attributes.

Holden walked up to them and sat in the chair next to Lily. "What are you all talking about?"

"How glad we are that Luke's with Noah," Lily was happy to change the subject.

"That's true."

Luke, Noah, and Lu came running up the beach to the deck chairs everyone was sitting on. Faith, Natalie and Ethan were playing in the sand. Lu ran up to Holden and jumped in his lap.

Holden had a shocked look on his face from the coolness of the water leaking on him. "Hey there sport, you're all wet."

Lu giggled. "I was pwaying," He put his head down on Holden's chest and quickly fell asleep.

Lucinda looked over at a happy Luke and Noah. "So, have you two decided when you're getting married?"

"We haven't had a chance. Between my book release and Noah's final editing, we've been very busy."

"Your Mom and I are thinking about getting married again," Holden said with a smile.

"You are?" Luke was surprised. He did not know his parents had gotten that close again.

"We just don't know when and what type of ceremony we want to have."

"Why don't you two fly to Vegas and tie the knot?" Noah suggested.

"Vegas?" Holden did not seem impressed.

"Sure why not? You could get married by an Elvis impersonator," Noah laughed.

"That would be fun. We've had the serious vows. Something silly would be different," Holden considered.

"Holden Snyder, don't you even think it," warned Lily.

"What Elvis puts together, let no man put asunder," Noah joked.

Everyone laughed at Noah's joke, even Lily who completely dismissed his idea.

"Why not, Mom?" Luke was curious.

"I don't know guys. I'd have to think about it."

Everyone knew that Lily was not really taking Noah's idea too seriously.

"Casey would be so jealous," Luke laughed.

"Maybe we should go with them," Noah suggested off-hand.

Luke whipped his head around to look at Noah. "What?" He was shocked by Noah's suggestion.

"I don't want to wait anymore, Luke."

"You don't?" Luke was caught off guard.

"No, it's been eight months since we have gotten engaged. We should get married here on the beach."

"We should?" Luke seemed surprised.

"My film is almost in the can and most of the premiere and promotional interviews should be done in say six months. Maybe we can get married then," Noah wondered aloud.

"Six months?" Luke, Lily, and Lucinda replied at the same time.

Emma came walking out of the house with a tray of cookies, pitcher of lemonade and glasses. She was wondering why everyone was looking at Noah but she filled the glasses and handed each a glass instead of asking what was wrong.

"Yes, in six months but it has to be an evening wedding, so we can have the sunset. Wait until you see it tonight. It's breathtaking. "

"That's not enough time to plan a wedding," Lucinda announced.

"Wedding?" Emma asked after hearing the word.

"Noah wants to get married in six months . . . here on the beach," Luke was still in shock.

"Why not? We can have the reception here too," Noah was being serious.

"It would be a great place to have a wedding and we could show off the house at the same time," Luke drifted off into a dream state where he saw himself getting married on the beach. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. "I think it would be a great idea."

"You do?" Noah, Emma, Lucinda, and Lily were surprised.

"Yes, I do," Luke said with confidence.

"Well then, after we have lunch, we need to talk to the caterers, stop by the florist, and see what kind of minister we can get out here," Lily was making a mental list. "We will have to send out invitations immediately."

Lucinda, Lily, and Emma almost had a fit when Luke and Noah told them they wanted a casual wedding, but they gave in because it was what Luke and Noah wanted. The grooms-to-be wanted the women to wear long flowing cotton sundresses and casual shirts and pants for the men.

-P-

Six months later, Luke and Noah were days away from getting married. Noah used his connections at the studio to spring a few surprises for Luke. Virtually everyone that was invited decided to come to the wedding. As a lark, they sent an invitation Steven and Kate Spielberg. They were shocked when they received an RSVP saying that they accepted, as well as his boss, crew and some of the actors, some of which were famous, accepted as well. Luke invited some business and foundation guests that were coming. Cyndi Lauper, who they had met in Oakdale, all those years ago, was going to attend. She had helped with fundraising for the foundations gay rights initiatives a few times since then.

Luke and Noah were excited that their friends from Oakdale were coming. Luke, of course, invited all of his uncles and aunts. He also invited is grandmother, Iva. They had a friendly relationship but it was not nearly as strong as his relationships with Emma and Lucinda. They would talk on the phone and they would see each other when they could but there was never enough time for them to really bond closely.

Family and friends were starting to arrive. Lucinda had rented a few planes to bring friends and family from Oakdale. Noah used his apartment in the city to guests, who wanted to stay in Los Angeles, along with several hotels in the Malibu area.

There was one renovation to the house that Luke and Noah decided to complete after they moved in. They took three bays from the end of the fifteen-car garage and turned it into a game room. The wall facing the cars could be opened up to enlarge the room into the garage, if needed. The game room, with its own patio, housed widescreen TV's, karaoke machine, its own kitchen slash bar, soda fountain, pool, foosball, and poker tables, video games and other games that adults and kids would like.

The maid service was at the house the day before and cleaned everything from top to bottom. There was not a speck of dirt anywhere. The landscapers came to make any last minute adjustments to the lawn or plant that was needed.

The evening before the wedding, all of the invited guests joined Luke and Noah for a barbeque. It was the first time in years that virtually all of the Snyders were together. They had planned to party late into the night.


	10. Chapter 10

The day of the wedding was a busy day for everyone. The caterers showed up early to begin to put up the tents and get ready for the reception. Luke and Noah had brunch with their friends from Oakdale at a local restaurant and everyone went back to the house and lounged in the game room until it was time to get ready for the wedding. Eventually, most of their friends from Oakdale were relaxing in the game room. The glass doors were opened and the adults were playing cards out in the garage area where it was a little quieter, while the kids were playing console games or watching videos.

The real fun of the day began when Luke and Noah turned on the karaoke machine and sang Telephone. Luke was Lady Gaga and Noah was Beyoncé. Their second song Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), had everyone falling out of their chairs at the two clowning it up, as they tried to do the dance moves and before anyone realized the time, Emma and Lucinda came and grabbed Noah while Lily and Holden dragged Luke off to get dressed for the wedding.

-P-

Noah pulled Emma aside before he went to get ready. "I have wanted to ask you something."

"What is it, Noah?" Emma was curious.

Noah was nervous. "Well, I was wondering . . . um . . . I was wondering if it was okay with you if Lu and I change our name to Snyder?"

Emma embraced Noah, pulling away slightly to look at him. "Are you sure, Noah?"

"You know my history. I think I'd like to become a member of your family after I marry Luke."

"Noah, you are already a member of the family," Emma chastised him.

"I mean in name. You are the matriarch of the family. I'm supposed to ask you, right?"

Emma giggled. "Noah, we would be honored to have you and your son take our family name."

Lucinda walked into the room and saw Emma and Noah hugging. "What's going on? I thought Noah was supposed to be getting changed."

"I asked Emma if Lu and I could take the Snyder name after the ceremony."

"I think that's fabulous, darling," Lucinda was pleased.

Emma put a hand on Noah's arm. "As matriarch of the Snyder clan, I grant by decree, that Noah Mayer and his son Luciano Mayer may take the Snyder family name when he marries my grandson Luke," Emma giggled.

Noah bowed to the matriarch. Emma laughed and pulled him into a hug and started crying.

"Don't cry already, Emma," teased Lucinda.

"You have yet to begin to cry," Noah teased.

"What do you mean?"

"I have a surprise or two for Luke," Noah smiled.

"The biggest surprise would be to miss the wedding because you're not ready," Lucinda looked at her watch.

"Oh, shit!" Lucinda and Emma laughed at Noah as he ran off to get dressed.

Noah came out of his room twenty minutes later. He wore white cotton pants and a blue colored fitted cotton shirt that matched his blue eyes. Noah had his shirt only buttoned up to right below his pecks, showing off his tanned muscular chest and his 'taken' tattoo. He had on a pair of sandals. Lucinda and Emma changed into their dresses when Noah was getting ready.

"You two look great!" Noah looked them over in their summer dresses. "Well, how do I look?"

"You look fabulous, darling," Lucinda looked him over. "I thought you guys were crazy when you said what you wanted to wear but I have to say it looks great."

"It would be too awkward to get married on the beach in suits."

It was six in the evening and the wedding was about to start.

Luke and Noah were in different bedrooms looking out at their guests mingling until they heard a voice on the loud speaker. "Please start working your way down to the beach. The wedding is about to start."

-P-

Luke was escorted into his parents room to get ready. He took a shower and got dressed.

Lily started to mist up as Luke walked out of the bathroom. "You look so grown up."

"Don't start crying already, Lily," Holden rolled his eyes.

"She can't help it, Dad," Luke teased.

Lily wiped her eyes on a tissue. "There were times that I didn't think you'd get here."

Luke stopped fussing in front of the mirror. "Neither did I! In fact, I gave up after his accident." Luke stopped to think. "When Noah left for California, I was heartbroken more for losing him than Reid but when I came out to Los Angeles to be with Noah, it was clear that we both had changed. Losing each other the way we did made us both grow up." Luke paused. "I knew things would work out after the first day I was here. We seemed to click in a way we never did before. We talked about things that we had never been able to before."

Luke, Lily, and Holden heard the announcement that the wedding would start soon. Luke took a quick look in the mirror to make sure everything was okay.

"You look so handsome," Lily complimented.

"Yes, you do, Luke," Holden agreed.

Luke looked over at his parents. "Thanks. You both look great too. Well, let's go get married."

Luke walked over and hugged his parents. When Luke let go, all three walked over to the patio door and walked out.

-P-

Luke and Noah stepped out on the patio at the same time and looked at each other with lust in their eyes. Luke wore white cotton pants with a fitted brown colored cotton shirt that went with his brown eyes and blond hair. Luke had his shirt buttoned just like Noah's.

"You showed up," laughed Noah.

"Smartass!" Luke laughed.

"You both look so handsome," Lily was on the verge of tears again.

Luke and Noah looked everyone over. "You all look great too."

Luke and Noah walked over to each other and kissed. When the kiss broke, they looked into each other's eyes for a split second before Luke leaned forward and started kissing Noah's chest through his open shirt.

"Hey, save that for the wedding night," shrieked Lucinda.

Luke had fire in his eyes. "You look so sexy, Noah. I don't know how I'm going to be able to stop from ripping your clothes off during the ceremony."

Noah had the same fire as Luke did in his eyes. "You are drop dead sexy, Luke. I want to rip your clothes off right now."

"Okay, I've heard enough!" complained Holden as he threw his hands up. Not that it bothered him. It was more of a joke now.

Noah looked at everyone. "Let's get this show on the road."


	11. Chapter 11

Six months later, they were getting ready to move to the new house in Malibu. All the renovations were completed and the family was coming out to Los Angeles for the move in. Noah was not surprised when they showed up a day early.

After the greetings, Emma looked around the apartment. "How come you're not packed yet?"

"We are going to keep this place, just in case we need to use it," replied Luke.

"If we are tired, working late or there is an accident on the coast highway, we can stay here. If we find we do not use this much, we can switch to a smaller apartment here in the building and then rent this one out but I would hate to lose the roof deck," Noah was confident in their decision.

"Sounds like a great plan," Lily agreed with their thinking.

"How's the house look?" Lucinda was curious.

"It is amazing. You will not believe it's the same house."

"We are all excited to see it," Emma's voice resonated through the apartment.

"It turned out spectacular," Luke was proud of all the hard work it took but he knew it was worth it.

"We need to start getting the beds sorted out. I'm sure you are all tired," Noah knew they would be. "If we had known you all were coming, we could have had them all ready."

"We were just excited," Holden was getting impatient to see the house. He might have had to be _nudged_ into it but after he thought about it, he loved the idea of having a house on the beach.

"We just couldn't wait but we are worn out and it's going to be a busy day, tomorrow," Lily was tired but excited.

-P-

The next morning, everyone was up early getting ready before coming out of their rooms. They wanted to get on the road early and get to the new house. Emma came out of the guestroom and sat down on the couch next to Lu.

"We are moving today," Lu stated, turning his attention away from cartoons he was watching.

"Yes, I know. Are you excited?" replied Emma.

"I'm gonna miss it here," Lu made a sad face.

"Well, your daddy is going to keep this place."

"Good."

Everyone had filtered into the room as Emma and Lu had their conversation cut short by Lu's stomach growl.

"What are we doing for breakfast?" Emma wondered aloud.

"We didn't think we needed to keep any food here at the apartment. Everything we wanted is already moved to the house and the kitchen is fully stocked," said Noah. "We can get breakfast down the street."

Lu cried as they left the apartment but they reminded him that the house had a pool and an ocean. They had a quick breakfast and then were on the road to their new house at the ocean.

-P-

When they pulled into the driveway, everyone noticed how different the house looked. The property had a fresh coat of paint on it, everything was fixed and the landscaping was pristine. They walked around the outside of the house and showed Emma her surprise garden, just off the kitchen patio. It was not large but it had some peppers, tomatoes, herbs and other basic vegetables. They also showed them the fruit trees they planted along the edges of the property.

They kept walking around the property to the main patio of the house. The stone patio was repaired and power washed. The outdoor kitchen, barbeque, and outdoor oven was updated and cleaned. The pool and jacuzzi were retiled. New patio sets, deck chairs, umbrellas were out along the patio and the couches and chairs around the new fire pit matched the other patio furniture. Luke and Noah went around and opened all the umbrellas on the patio.

"I'm impressed. It's better than I ever imagined," Lucinda hugged both Luke and Noah.

"George came by yesterday when Noah and I were here. He said the house value was now worth fifty-five million."

"That's great, darling. Ten million more than we spent, that's good."

Noah shook his head. "It means we made the right changes to the house, which raised its value."

Lucinda was getting more and more impressed with Noah's business sense.

As nice as the house and patio looked, everyone stood there looking at the mountains and the ocean. The blue sky, green mountains, sandy beach and the blue ocean only enhanced the beauty of the place.

-P-

Pictures of house at Nukefic

-P-

Everyone gasped as soon as they walked into the house. It was just as pristine inside as it was on the outside. The first thing they noticed was the wide planked wood floors had been refinished. However, the kitchen caught everyone's eye. It was completely different from when they bought the house.

"David and I decided to take the storage room off the kitchen and make it into a pantry to keep all the extra food, a freezer, extra plates, glasses and anything else not needed on a daily basis, which allowed us get rid of a lot of cabinetry out here," Luke could tell everyone was shocked. "It gave us the freedom to knock down two walls, which opened the kitchen up the rest of the house and more importantly, to the view outside." Luke continued when nobody said anything. "We took out the wall between the kitchen and living room and also the kitchen and what was the dining room, which is now a great room."

"Darling, it's beautiful," Lucinda was almost speechless.

"I hope you're not upset with not having a formal dining room. Having everything open to the view seemed to make a lot more sense," Luke was almost afraid of what they were thinking. It was the one decision he made on his own after David suggested it. "It did not make sense to have two outdoor dining tables and also two indoor dining tables."

"It's great, Luke," exclaimed Emma.

"No, not at all, Luke. It's perfect," Lucinda spoke up.

Lily and Holden agreed with Lucinda and Emma. Luke was relieved that he made the right choice.

The large table in the kitchen was the crowning jewel to the whole design. It was reminiscent of the Snyder table. They had a second one, which was more rustic, in the covered outdoor kitchen, and the third, a large mosaic tiled table, down on a patio near the beach.

"The pantry is fully stocked with groceries. We have pie plates, bowls, mixers and everything else we would need for baking. We can show you were the stores are located and the farmers market," Noah spoke up. "We picked up some fresh fruit, including blueberries and raspberries for pies."

"The appliances are large in size because we figured we wanted the ability to host parties. Having foundation fundraisers, World Wide dinners or Noah's Hollywood friends here is half of the reason why we purchased this property," Luke added. "There is also a catering company and maid service close by. We have already introduced ourselves to them."

-P-

"Let's go see the bedrooms," Luke told everyone.

Everyone followed Luke and Noah down the hall that led to the bedrooms and into the master bedroom. Luke and Noah's bedroom was the master suite of the house. It had a large bed, lounge area, a fireplace, a patio facing the ocean, and an on-suite bathroom that had a large glass shower and a separate freestanding tub that looked out to the ocean.

After they toured the rest of the bedrooms and the other rooms in the house and they gathered back in the living room.

-P-

The living room opened up to the covered outdoor kitchen. The ocean view was spectacular. The white furniture was slipped covered, so they were easily washable. Most of the main rooms in the house were white because the outdoor views were so specular that any color on the wall looked dull compared to the beauty of their surroundings.

"We bought a hybrid Escalade so you would have something here to use without having to have a limo or rent a car for daily use," Noah spoke up.

"Abigail and Aaron are coming in tomorrow to see everyone," Luke said with a big smile.

Holden and Emma could not hide their excitement at hearing the news.

"Everything looks perfect. You guys did great," Lily was happy with the results.

"Well, enough of the tour. We are going to go out and play in the ocean with Lu, Faith, Ethan, and Natalie," Noah said, knowing the kids couldn't wait to play in the ocean. "But first, everyone needs to gather their stuff out of the garage and unpack in their rooms."

-P-

For the next hour, everyone was busy unpacking and arranging their rooms.

Emma finished putting her clothes away quickly and was in the kitchen making a few desserts and lunch.

The kids wanted to play in the water, so they all changed into their swimsuits and headed down to the ocean.

Lucinda and Lily were sitting on lounge chairs, in tank tops and shorts, watching a shirtless Luke and Noah playing with the kids in the ocean.

"They look so happy together." Lily still could not believe Luke and Noah were together.

"You know darling, Noah is looking quite good."

"Mother!"

"What? I have eyes, darling," Lucinda could not suppress her smile.

Lily laughed. She knew Lucinda was kidding but went along with it. "He is your grandson's future husband."

"He certainly picked a good one to marry. Better than that doctor. Bless his heart for what he did for Chris but Noah's much better suited for Luke and our family."

"I know. I worried about Luke when he started seeing Reid but it was his decision, so I did not interfere. I'm glad Luke is back with Noah."

They watched Luke walk up to Noah and give him a kiss.

"Our dear boy picked a good one," laughed Lucinda. "I can't remember the last time someone with muscles and _attributes_ like Noah's wanted to be romantic with me."

"Mother!" Lily replied in a slightly embarrassed, exasperated tone. She knew what her mother meant by attributes.

Holden walked up to them and sat in the chair next to Lily. "What are you all talking about?"

"How glad we are that Luke's with Noah," Lily was happy to change the subject.

"That's true."

Luke, Noah, and Lu came running up the beach to the deck chairs everyone was sitting on. Faith, Natalie and Ethan were playing in the sand. Lu ran up to Holden and jumped in his lap.

Holden had a shocked look on his face from the coolness of the water leaking on him. "Hey there sport, you're all wet."

Lu giggled. "I was pwaying," He put his head down on Holden's chest and quickly fell asleep.

Lucinda looked over at a happy Luke and Noah. "So, have you two decided when you're getting married?"

"We haven't had a chance. Between my book release and Noah's final editing, we've been very busy."

"Your Mom and I are thinking about getting married again," Holden said with a smile.

"You are?" Luke was surprised. He did not know his parents had gotten that close again.

"We just don't know when and what type of ceremony we want to have."

"Why don't you two fly to Vegas and tie the knot?" Noah suggested.

"Vegas?" Holden did not seem impressed.

"Sure why not? You could get married by an Elvis impersonator," Noah laughed.

"That would be fun. We've had the serious vows. Something silly would be different," Holden considered.

"Holden Snyder, don't you even think it," warned Lily.

"What Elvis puts together, let no man put asunder," Noah joked.

Everyone laughed at Noah's joke, even Lily who completely dismissed his idea.

"Why not, Mom?" Luke was curious.

"I don't know guys. I'd have to think about it."

Everyone knew that Lily was not really taking Noah's idea too seriously.

"Casey would be so jealous," Luke laughed.

"Maybe we should go with them," Noah suggested off-hand.

Luke whipped his head around to look at Noah. "What?" He was shocked by Noah's suggestion.

"I don't want to wait anymore, Luke."

"You don't?" Luke was caught off guard.

"No, it's been eight months since we have gotten engaged. We should get married here on the beach."

"We should?" Luke seemed surprised.

"My film is almost in the can and most of the premiere and promotional interviews should be done in say six months. Maybe we can get married then," Noah wondered aloud.

"Six months?" Luke, Lily, and Lucinda replied at the same time.

Emma came walking out of the house with a tray of cookies, pitcher of lemonade and glasses. She was wondering why everyone was looking at Noah but she filled the glasses and handed each a glass instead of asking what was wrong.

"Yes, in six months but it has to be an evening wedding, so we can have the sunset. Wait until you see it tonight. It's breathtaking. "

"That's not enough time to plan a wedding," Lucinda announced.

"Wedding?" Emma asked after hearing the word.

"Noah wants to get married in six months . . . here on the beach," Luke was still in shock.

"Why not? We can have the reception here too," Noah was being serious.

"It would be a great place to have a wedding and we could show off the house at the same time," Luke drifted off into a dream state where he saw himself getting married on the beach. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. "I think it would be a great idea."

"You do?" Noah, Emma, Lucinda, and Lily were surprised.

"Yes, I do," Luke said with confidence.

"Well then, after we have lunch, we need to talk to the caterers, stop by the florist, and see what kind of minister we can get out here," Lily was making a mental list. "We will have to send out invitations immediately."

Lucinda, Lily, and Emma almost had a fit when Luke and Noah told them they wanted a casual wedding, but they gave in because it was what Luke and Noah wanted. The grooms-to-be wanted the women to wear long flowing cotton sundresses and casual shirts and pants for the men.

-P-

Six months later, Luke and Noah were days away from getting married. Noah used his connections at the studio to spring a few surprises for Luke. Virtually everyone that was invited decided to come to the wedding. As a lark, they sent an invitation Steven and Kate Spielberg. They were shocked when they received an RSVP saying that they accepted, as well as his boss, crew and some of the actors, some of which were famous, accepted as well. Luke invited some business and foundation guests that were coming. Cyndi Lauper, who they had met in Oakdale, all those years ago, was going to attend. She had helped with fundraising for the foundations gay rights initiatives a few times since then.

Luke and Noah were excited that their friends from Oakdale were coming. Luke, of course, invited all of his uncles and aunts. He also invited is grandmother, Iva. They had a friendly relationship but it was not nearly as strong as his relationships with Emma and Lucinda. They would talk on the phone and they would see each other when they could but there was never enough time for them to really bond closely.

Family and friends were starting to arrive. Lucinda had rented a few planes to bring friends and family from Oakdale. Noah used his apartment in the city to guests, who wanted to stay in Los Angeles, along with several hotels in the Malibu area.

There was one renovation to the house that Luke and Noah decided to complete after they moved in. They took three bays from the end of the fifteen-car garage and turned it into a game room. The wall facing the cars could be opened up to enlarge the room into the garage, if needed. The game room, with its own patio, housed widescreen TV's, karaoke machine, its own kitchen slash bar, soda fountain, pool, foosball, and poker tables, video games and other games that adults and kids would like.

The maid service was at the house the day before and cleaned everything from top to bottom. There was not a speck of dirt anywhere. The landscapers came to make any last minute adjustments to the lawn or plant that was needed.

The evening before the wedding, all of the invited guests joined Luke and Noah for a barbeque. It was the first time in years that virtually all of the Snyders were together. They had planned to party late into the night.


	12. Chapter 12

"This car is so sweet," Luke was distracted as he scanned the interior.

"Yeah, but not as great as my Camaro though," Noah teased as he drove the car down the road.

Luke noticed that Noah did not turn onto the highway but kept going up Cliffside Drive. Luke, finally, was curious enough to ask. "Where are we going, Noah?"

"We are going six miles up the road. I rented us a house on the ocean, which is secluded from other houses, so we can do what we like in private, like being naked in a hot tub," Noah winked at Luke.

Luke stroked Noah's leg. "That sounds great, hubby."

Noah smiled at being called hubby.

Noah drove for a few more minutes before he pulled into a driveway and parked the car in the open garage bay. They got out, grabbed their bags out of the back seat, and walked into the house, closing the garage door on their way in. The house was very different from their own. This house was ultra-modern. The entire back wall of the house was glass, so you could see the ocean from any room.

Luke started wandering off.

Noah started to worry Luke would find his surprise. "Luke, get back here."

"I'm just looking around," Luke did not understand what the problem was.

"I have some surprises for you in the house, so don't go investigating."

"You do?" Luke looked amazed.

Noah began pulling things out of a bag he was carrying.

"What's that?"

"Grandma . . . ," Noah paused. "God, I've wanted to call her that every since that first Christmas at the farm." Noah reminisced as Luke smiled at him for being so happy. "Grandma made us breakfast. I put some protein shakes and energy bars. I think there are some cookies in here too, in case we needed any extra energy." Luke grinned.

Noah walked into the kitchen. Luke followed him. He watched as Noah put things into the refrigerator. When he was finished, he walked up to Luke, pulled him into a hug and kissed him. "How about we put on our bathing suits and take a dip in the ocean?" Noah began unbuttoning Luke's shirt.

Luke looked down at Noah unbuttoning his shirt with a big smile on his face. "You cannot wait to get me into bed."

Noah smiled. "No, I cannot but I thought we would go for a quick swim and maybe a little _From Here to Eternity_ out on the beach. It's the only thing we have left from our dream first time." Noah had finished unbuttoning Luke's shirt, slipped it off his shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. His eyes hungrily looked over Luke's muscular hairy chest.

Luke leaned forward and began to kiss Noah's exposed chest, as he brought up his hands to Noah's shirt and started unbuttoning it, he kissed his way down the trunk of his body.

"Um, Luke, if you don't stop . . . ."

Luke stopped, pulled away, and looked into Noah's eyes. What Noah saw was fire. He knew then, everything else would have to wait. "Okay, follow me." Noah grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hall, and to a closed door. In the dark hallway, Luke could see flickers of light coming from under the door. Noah kissed Luke one more time. "Go ahead and open the door."

Luke, with great anticipation, reached for the door handle and turned it. He stood there in shock as the room revealed itself to him. Tears rolled down his face as he saw flickering white candles on every flat surface, next to vases of long stemmed roses. Red rose petals were laying on every surface, except for the bed. It was covered with white rose pedals and long stemmed roses. The sweet scent of the roses filled the room.

Luke pushed his body against Noah's. "It's so beautiful."

"Come on," Noah guided an emotional Luke into the room. Luke did not notice Noah pressing a button that turned on several camera's in the room. He walked Luke up to the bed and stood next to the bed face to face a few inches apart.

Noah reached down and picked up a rose. "This lavender rose is thorn-less. The lavender color and it being thorn-less represents love at first sight. Our relationship began with love at first sight." Noah handed the rose to Luke.

"I think so too," Luke brought the nose up to his nose and sniffed the scent. "It's beautiful." Luke moved his body close and kissed Noah deeply.

When the kiss broke, Noah bent down and picked up a rose. "This coral rose represents desire. My desire to be with you." Noah handed the rose to Luke.

Luke smelled the scent. He giggled as he looked over and noticed more coral colored roses around the immediate bed than any other color. "You must have a lot of desire for me."

"You better believe it," Noah picked up the next rose. "This yellow rose represents a promise of a new beginning. It represents you coming out to Los Angeles." Noah handed Luke the rose. He quickly picked up two roses. "These different shades of pink roses represent _please believe me_, joy, and gentleness. They represent you believing that I would never turn away again, the gentleness you give me and our son, and the joy of being together with you again."

Like he did with the all the roses, he smelled the beautiful scent. Luke was becoming more emotional as Noah continued. This was the most romantic Noah has been since he proposed.

Noah picked up another rose. "This peach rose means appreciation, appreciation that you've forgiven me. It also means 'let's get together' and 'closing the deal' . . ." Noah could not finish because Luke began laughing.

"Closing the deal."

Noah grinned as he picked up multiple roses. "These red and white roses together signify our unity, our coming together and getting married." He quickly picked up another rose before Luke could react. "This red rose, well, it represents love, beauty, courage and respect, and romantic love." Noah paused as tears fell from his eyes. "I love you so much, Luke."

"I love you too, Noah."

"And this white rose," Noah picked up the last rose on the bed. "It is the wedding rose. It represents innocence, virtue, unity, and purity of love." Noah brushed his tears away. "I love you so much, Luke. There are not enough roses in the world to symbolize the love that I have for you." Noah began to stroke Luke's face. "I want nothing more than living the rest of my life with you, loving you, and raising our family together."

Luke was crying again. "Same here!"

They came together in a kiss. Their teeth clashed against each other as their tongues danced in each other's mouths. Their passion increased at a fierce rate and threatened to consume them. They fell onto the bed as their passion finally overtook them.

The last thing Noah did before desire overtook his mind was to press the stop button on the remote to turn off the cameras. Unfortunately, he did not check to make sure they did shut off.

Imagine Noah's surprise, in his pride about how romantic he can be, when he showed the video to their family before they went home, only to look up and see people running off the patio towards the ocean. Confused, he looked up at the TV screen only to discover Luke had pulled down his pants and in high-definition, was his ass, in all its naked glory.

-P-

Noah's cell phone rang early the next morning, waking them up on their honeymoon.

"Who the hell can that be?" grumbled Noah. He looked at the phone's caller ID. He started nudging his husband. "Luke, it's the adoption service." Noah answered the phone. "Hello."

"Noah, it's Sharon from Cali Adoption Service, I'm so sorry for calling you today of all days but we have a placement for you."

Noah was shocked. "You do? Um . . . I'm putting you on speakerphone." Noah hit the speakerphone button on the phone. "It's Sharon. She has a placement for us."

"She does?" Luke was just as shocked as Noah was.

They could hear Sharon laughing over the phone at their same response. "Yes, we do. Her name is Carmen Ella. She is eleven hours old and weighs six pounds and seven ounces, with brown hair and brown eyes. She is a very cute little girl. There are no health issues."

Luke and Noah just stared at each other. They had not expected to be notified this quickly.

Sharon noticed the prolonged silence and started laughing again. "Hello . . . Do you want her?"

"Yes!" both Luke and Noah replied at the same time.

"If you can meet me at Cedars in about an hour, you should be able to take her home after we meet with the judge."

Both men were shocked. "We will be there," Noah replied as they said their goodbyes.

They looked at each other, shell shocked, from the happiness they had just received and then raced to get ready. After they showered and changed, they threw everything into their bags and headed out the door. Noah made a few calls as they raced to the hospital. One of the calls was to Joe and Abby, letting them know about Carmen, since Abby would be babysitting when they were at work. Noah asked if they could bring over the baby furniture that he used for Lu, over to the house. They readily agreed since they could not wait to see Carmen.

-P-

It had been a long day for Luke and Noah already. They had gone to the hospital and then to a court to sign adoption papers for Carmen. Noah pulled the car into the driveway in Malibu, it was full of cars but they didn't see anyone around.

"They must be out by the pool," he said as he parked the car.

They got out and walked into the house. Luke went to his bedroom to change Carmen. Noah walked onto the patio to see the Snyders, the Hughes, the Ryans, the Munsons, Abby and Joe and several of their friends, all sitting down eating what looked like key-lime pie. Most of the families were going to fly back to Oakdale the next day, but for now, they were relaxing on the beach and swimming while they could enjoy it.

"Hi everyone," Noah said loudly.

"Hi, Noah," everyone shouted.

"Daddy!" shouted Lu. He jumped out of his chair and ran into his father's arms. He gave his father a key-lime kiss.

Noah picked him up and pulled him into a tight hug. "I missed you so much, pumpkin." He laughed at the gooey kiss.

"I missed you too," Lu replied.

"Noah, a driver came and dropped off a van full of roses and the other things you left at the house. . . What happened that you had to leave so quickly?" Lily inquired of her son-in-law.

Lu looked around for Luke. "Where's papa?"

Noah ignored Lily's question and answered Lu's. "He will be here in a minute. Remember what we talked about a while ago?" Lu shook his head no. Noah whispered into his ear. "A baby brother or sister," Noah sat down in a chair with Lu, giving him a big hug.

Lu remembered. "Is it here?"

Noah nodded and smiled at his son's excitement. A little brother or sister was what he wished for on his last birthday.

By this time, everyone was wondering what Noah and Lu were whispering about and what _it_ was that was here but they soon found out when Luke walked out onto the patio carrying a pink blanket carefully in his arms. There were several muffled screams of joy coming from the tables as Luke sat down in a chair in the shade. Everyone who was sitting with their backs to the house turned around quickly.

Luke looked at Lu and said in a loud voice, so everyone could hear. "Would you like to meet your new sister?"

"A sister . . . awesome."

Noah walked over to Luke, still holding Lu. He moved a chair over and put it next to Luke's. He sat down with Lu in his lap. "Remember to be careful, Lu."

"I will Daddy," Lu replied with excitement.

Emma, Lucinda, Lily and Holden rushed behind the chairs that Luke and Noah were sitting in, so they could take a look.

Lu looked at Carmen in amazement. "Was I that small Daddy?"

"Yes, you were," it reminded Noah of when he brought Lu home from the hospital.

"What's her name, Daddy?"

"Carmen Ella Snyder."

"Hi Carmen, I'm Lu. I'm your big brudder," Lu proudly announced.

Noah heard some aww's behind him.

"Am I a Snyder now, Daddy?"

"Yes, all three of us are. Our attorney finalized our name change in front of the judge today."

"Yeah, I'm a Snyder!" cheered Lu. Holden ruffled his hair in celebration.

-P-

Lily leaned down so her head was between Luke and Noah's. "Oh, Luke, Noah, she's adorable."

Noah did not even have to look at Lily to know she was crying. She always cried when she was happy. "Mom, why don't you sit here?" Noah stood up with Lu and moved out of the way.

"Are you sure, Noah?"

"Yes, I need to start thinking about what to do with Carmen. We need to pick out a room for her, clean it, setup the crib and the other furniture that I asked Joe bring with him from my storage unit. We also need to go shopping as well," he gave Lu to Lily to hold.

Lucinda, Emma, and Holden immediately hugged Noah.

"Give Carmen the room next to Lu's but we will need a bassinet in our room for the first couple of weeks," Luke said to Noah.

"Let me get some paper," Noah ran into the kitchen, picked up a pad of paper and a pen, and ran back outside.

Abby and Joe walked up to Noah, gave him a hug, and congratulated him.

"We brought the crib, rocker, changing table, bookshelf, and dresser," Joe listed off.

"Thank you. We should probably get a new mattress for the crib," Noah thought aloud as he wrote it on the paper.

Everyone surrounded the chairs, looking at the new baby and wanted to know what they could do.

"First, we need to have the baby furniture cleaned and the room next to Lu's emptied out. It's a light rose color already, so that should be perfect for Carmen," Noah looked at Luke. Luke nodded in agreement. Jack, Aaron, Joe and most of the men agreed to help with that.

"We will need infant clothes, booties, bibs, hats, sleepers and receiving blankets," Noah spoke loudly as he wrote it all down. "Carmen is six pounds seven ounces and twenty inches long."

"I think Barbara and I can handle that, Noah dear," replied Lisa. They were in the fashion business, so that made sense. "We have two more seats in the car, if anyone wants to come." Kim volunteered to go along.

Abby agreed to take them in the Escalade and use the credit card she used for the apartment buildings. Noah suggested the Malibu Country Mart. He whispered that they should pick up a few things for Lu as well, so he would not feel left out.

"Then we need nursery stuff. We have most of the furniture that we will need. We will need a unisex bassinette to match our bedroom and we will need a new mattress to fit our crib, mattress pads, crib sheets, blankets, diaper pail, bumpers, and mobile. We like to be eco-friendly as much as we can," said Noah as he gave them a sheet of paper with a list.

Carly, Natalie, and Faith agreed to go. Noah suggested they follow Abby to Malibu Country Mart.

Noah quickly remembered. "Oh and a stroller. Don't forget that Luke and I will be pushing it, so nothing girly or pink, please."

Everyone laughed.

"We need formula, diapers, wipes, glass baby bottles with nipples, baby bottle warmer, baby soap, lotion and oil, diaper rash ointment, wash cloths, towels, bulb syringe, pacifier and all that kind of stuff," said Noah as he gave them a sheet of paper with a list. He included brands he used with Lu. "Pick up double of each, because Abby will need some too. If you think of anything else, pick it up. I've written Abby's number on the list."

Margo, Alison and Katie agreed to go do the shopping.

Noah gave Margo his credit card. "Can I trust you with this?" Noah laughed as did everyone standing around Margo.

"Give me that," Margo laughed as she grabbed the card. She took a quick look at it. "I'm surprised it doesn't say Hutch on it."

Noah laughed aloud. Everyone looked at him. "It's an inside joke," that seemed to please everyone. He could hear Luke snickering behind him.

The women left to go shopping, after taking a few pictures of the existing furniture. Noah and the men went into Carmen's new room and removed the mattress and the bed. They kept the dresser and a few things for storage but everything else left the room and the baby furniture washed and brought into the room.

-P-

While everyone was off doing something for the baby, Luke looked up and saw Lu sitting alone on a chair looking sad. He handed the baby off to his mother, who was thrilled to be spending time with her precious granddaughter, and went over to sit next to Lu. "Is there something wrong, pumpkin?"

"Do people still like me, papa?"

"Of course they do. Why do you think they don't?"

"Well, everyone was playing with me until Carmen came," Lu raised his head and looked at Luke with tears in his eyes. Lu's tears broke Luke's heart.

Luke pulled Lu into his lap and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the top of his head. "Everyone loves you very much."

"But everyone is doing stuff for Carmen," Lu replied in the loneliest voice Luke had ever heard.

"Carmen was a surprise. We did not know we were getting her today and we were not ready. Everyone is helping to see that she has some place sleep, some clothes to wear and food she can eat," Noah had always explained situations to Lu so he could understand what was going on. Luke has always followed Noah's example.

Lu pulled back from the hug and looked into Luke's eyes. "She can have some of my stuff," as only an innocent child could say.

Luke could hear some sniffling from the other chairs. Luke was touched by Lu's thoughtfulness. "That's very nice of you but everyone should be done soon and then we can play in the pool or go down to the ocean."

"Okay," Lu was feeling better.

The grandparents heard Luke and Lu's conversation. Emma walked up to Luke and Lu. "Lu, I was thinking about making some cookies. Would you like to help?"

Lu broke his hug from Luke with a big smile on his face. "Oatmeal raisin, Granma?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, we can make those."

"My favorite."

Emma laughed. "Your dad's favorite too." Emma held out her hand for Lu.

"I hafta help Granma make cookies," Lu kissed Luke on the cheek and then jumped down and grabbed Emma's hand, almost dragging her into the house.

Luke walked back over to where Lucinda was now holding Carmen. "That was fast."

"You handled that well," Lily replied with pride. "You have multiple children now. You will need to be careful to include everyone."

"Yeah, it just surprised me that it happened so quickly. I better to see what mess the men are making in the bedroom," laughed Luke.

Luke walked into the house and into Carmen's new room. The guys were just finishing up there. Luke explained to Noah, what happened with Lu. They were all going out to swim in the pool.

On the way outside, Noah walked into the kitchen to find Lu covered in flour. "What happened to you?"

"We're making cookies," Lu replied proudly.

"I can see that," Noah laughed. "What kind are you making?"

"Oatmeal raisin."

"My favorite." Noah smiled.

"Me too."

"I just came in to tell you that everyone is going swimming."

Noah and Emma could see the struggle between playing and making cookies with Grandma. If he could split himself in half he would have but Grandma prevailed. "I wanna make cookies with Granma first."

Noah walked up close to the kitchen ladder he was standing on. "Okay, you come out when you're done here and I'll go swimming with you, okay?"

Lu threw his arms around his father and gave him a floury kiss. This succeeded in getting flour all over Noah's clothes and face. "Okay, daddy," he replied with excitement.

All Emma could do was laugh as she saw how messy Noah got. Noah left the kitchen and went out to hold his little girl until his little boy came out to play with him. Of course, Lucinda who was holding Carmen, would not let Noah hold her until he had cleaned up.

-P-

The women came back from shopping a few minutes after the men jumped out of the pool and ate the cookies Emma brought out.

"We should have known. We were busy shopping for Carmen and all you could do was swim and eat cookies?" teased Carly after seeing everyone in a swimsuit and empty plates.

"We finished getting the room ready and all the furniture cleaned up," replied Jack.

"Sure," laughed Carly.

The women wanted Luke go through all the bags, as a type of a baby shower, while they all were there watching. They waited for Emma to finish with the cookies and then Luke went through all the bags while Noah held Lu and Emma held Carmen. Lu loved the items he received and it made him feel a part of the day, instead of excluded.

-P-

The next afternoon, the festivities were over and it was time for their friends and family to go back to their lives. Luke and Noah had been happy when everyone arrived and now they had to say goodbye. Holden, Ethan, Nat, and Faith did not want to leave but Holden had to get back to the farm as new horses were arriving the following day. Emma, Lucinda, and Lily stayed for another week to help Luke and Noah with Carmen but all too soon, it was time for them to leave. The limo pulled up outside the house that would take Emma, Lucinda, and Lily to the airport. They said their goodbyes, which included a lot of crying, hugging, and kissing, especially for Lu and Carmen. Luke, Noah, and Lu waved as the limo pulled away from the house.

"Let's take our family into the house," Noah said to Luke.

"Sure, our lives together are just starting, Noah," Luke grinned.

"I know," replied Noah as he ushered his family into the house.

The End.


	13. Epilogue: Elvis

Three Years: Epilogue: Elvis

-P-

Noah cell phone began to ring. After looking at the caller-id, he answered the phone. "Hi, Grandmother. How are you this fine day?"

"Great, Noah. Luke did not answer his phone. Is he around?" Lucinda sounded out of breath.

"He's changing the baby. We just got back from a nine o'clock doctor's appointment for Carmen. She weighs twelve pounds nine ounces and is twenty-six inches long. She's really grown in the three months since you've seen her," Noah groaned.

"She is getting big," Lucinda loved hearing about her great-granddaughter but she was anxious to know something else. "I am calling to see if you've heard from Lily or Holden today?"

"No, I don't think so. Let me check with Luke," Noah walked into the nursery. "Honey, have you heard from your parents today?"

"No, why?" Luke continued to wipe Carmen's little hiney with a baby wipe.

"Grandmother is on the phone," Noah pressed a button on his phone. "You are on speakerphone, Grandmother. She called wondering if we heard from them."

"Granma Lu!" An excited Lu forgot about playing with Carmen's toys and ran to Noah. "Granma . . . Granma."

"Hold on, pumpkin. We will let you talk to Grandma Lu after we are done, okay?" Noah knew he had to find out what had Lucinda so worried because of the tension in her voice.

"Otay!" Lu sighed sadly and went back to play with Carmen's toys.

Luke had finished diapering Carmen and begun pulling up her tights. "Go ahead, Grandmother. What's going on?"

"I don't know," stated Lucinda with worry in her voice. "Your mother is not answering her phone."

"Did you call Grandma?" Luke was trying to help figure out who may have seen them last.

"Of course I did, darling. I wasn't born yesterday," Lucinda growled. "All Emma knows is that they both disappeared yesterday. My plane is gone but there was no flight plan registered."

"How is that possible with homeland security?" Noah knew flight plans were not optional.

"Or should I say they won't tell me the flight plan. I only know they went west, so I assumed you might know."

Luke could tell by Lucinda's irritated voice that she was not happy with the airport personnel. "Nobody called us," Luke was starting to get worried. His little princess was drifting off to sleep in his arms.

A tone from Luke's cell phone went off, letting him know he had received a text. Since Luke was holding Carmen, Noah went over and picked up Luke's phone. His eyes went round as saucers as he looked at the screen. "Oh my God!"

"What?" Luke whispered quickly when he saw Noah's expression.

Noah walked over to Luke and showed him the picture.

Luke was stunned for a second. "I can't believe it." He began to laugh.

"What? Is it from Lily?" Lucinda asked impatiently.

"Yes, Grandmother," Luke was still laughing. "They just sent me a picture of themselves. Elvis is standing in-between them."

"Elvis. What in the . . . ," Lucinda gasped as she remembered. "They got married . . . by Elvis?" She could not believe it. It was so unlike Lily. She completely poo-poo'd the idea so quickly, almost a year ago.

"It looks like it," Noah tried not to laugh.

Lucinda's cell phone beeped. She put her phone on speaker and then opened the received text message. She adjusted her glasses to get a better look at the small picture. Luke was right. It was Lily, Elvis, and Holden in what looked like a wedding chapel. "I just received the picture. It certainly looks like a wedding chapel."

Noah laughed. "I was joking. I didn't think they would do it."

Lu got up from his toys and walked over to Noah, who was still holding Luke's phone. Noah showed him the picture. "Tank you very much," giggled Lu, in a low deep voice.

Luke, Noah, and Lucinda laughed at Lu's innocent attempt at impersonating Elvis. Noah was trying to figure out where Lu could have heard Elvis say that when Luke's phone beeped again. Noah held up the phone so both he and Luke could read the message.

"Leaving hotel. On our way to u," Lily texted her son.

"They are on their way here, Grandmother," Luke announced to Lucinda. "They must plan on honeymooning here with us."

Lucinda was still a little stunned at what her daughter had done. "At least we know where they are now. Thank her for me, for shortening my already limited lifespan."

Luke looked at Noah with a roll of his eyes. "I'll pass on the message."

Noah, still holding Luke's phone, messaged Lily. "K. Congrats."

Wide-eyed Lu started jumping around the room. "Yeah! Granma and Granpa coming." Noah tried to calm his son down, so he wouldn't wake Carmen. "Can I talk to Granma Lu now?"

Noah got an idea. "Sure, hold on. Grandmother, I'm going to hang up and have Lu call you on Luke's phone."

"Sure, darling. Let me know when they get there," Lucinda was relieved but also puzzled by her daughter's choice of a wedding.

"Roger Wilco," Noah groaned after he realized what he had said. He heard Lucinda laughing. "I'm watching too many cartoons with Lu." Noah laughed as he hung up his phone. He gave Lu Luke's phone. "Dial Grandma Lu."

They both watched as Lu slid his finger along the touch screen to open the software lock on the phone and then hit green phone button, when the main screen of the phone appeared. The favorites menu opened and Lu's little finger hit Grandma Lu's picture. The phone began to dial Lucinda's number and Lu ran through the doorway. From the hallway, they heard Lu begin to talk to Lucinda.

Luke smiled at his son's excitement. "Why did you want Lu to use my phone?"

"Because we have a lot of work to do before your parents get here."

"Like what?"

"Remember what I did for you on our wedding night?"

Luke's jaw nearly hit the floor. "You're going to have _sex_ with my parents?"

Noah shrieked. "No, before that."

Luke had a strange wondering look on his face. "You're going to drive them to the rental property?"

Noah grumbled. "After that."

"Oh, the flowers?"

"Finally," Noah rolled his eyes. "We can do that for them. We can also get packed and stay at the apartment for a couple of days."

"I don't think they will want that. I'm sure they'll want to see Lu and Carmen," Luke replied honestly.

Noah looked hurt. "What about us?"

Luke laughed. An idea came to mind. "How about we leave the kids with my parents and we have some alone at the apartment?"

"I like the way you think!" Noah leaned over and kissed Luke lightly, so not to wake Carmen.

"We can have the honeymoon for them."

Noah smirked sarcastically. "Babe, every day with you is like a honeymoon."

Luke laughed. "At least say it like you mean it."

Noah had to laugh at Luke's comment. He picked up his phone and looked through his address book. He selected a number and dialed it. When the other party answered, Noah spoke. "Julie, it's Noah Snyder. Hey, I need a big favor . . . ."

-P-

It had been a long two hours for Luke and Noah. They rushed around calling people and getting things ready before Lily and Holden arrived. Noah went shopping for a few supplies. Lu camped out at the window that overlooked the driveway, just waiting for his grandparents to show up.

Carmen started crying, so Noah went to pick her up. It was about her time to have another feeding, when he heard Lu yelling. "Tays here, tays here."

As soon as Lily and Holden entered the front door, they were almost knocked over by their very energetic grandson. When Noah walked into the foyer with Carmen, Lu had his arms in a stranglehold around Holden's neck and Luke was hugging Lily.

"Congratulations you two," Noah smiled at his in-laws.

As soon as Lily saw Noah holding Carmen, she pulled out of Luke's hug and rushed over with her arms out.

Luke laughed as he found himself hugging air. "I know where I rate."

Lily gasped when she saw Carmen close up. "She's getting so big." Tears threatening her eyes.

Noah put Carmen into her open arms. "I was just getting her a bottle." Noah reached over and kissed his mother-in-law on the cheek. "Congratulations. Let's go out to the patio and tell us how all this happened."

"Sure," a big smile eclipsed Lily's face as she looked down at her little granddaughter. "Can I feed her?"

"Of course," Luke smiled at Lily's reaction. "Just leave your luggage here."

"Sure," Holden was able to squeak out from the chokehold Lu had on him.

Before they headed out to the patio, Noah picked up a bottle for Carmen and an apple juice for Lu in the kitchen. They met and sat down at a table in the shade.

"It's so beautiful here that I get chills every time I come back," Holden announced as he looked at the ocean.

Lily sat down in a chair next to her husband. Noah handed her a burp cloth and the bottle. She mixed the content of the bottle by turning a few times, tested it on her arm, and then put the nipple to Carmen's mouth. Carmen latched onto the nipple right away. Holden helped Lu, who had loosened his stranglehold on his neck, open his juice container.

"So tell us what made you two decide to get married by Elvis," Luke tried not to laugh.

Lily looked up and gathered her thoughts. "Well, you know our background."

"A little too well," Luke teased.

"We have been going to counseling for a while now. The counselor thought we were ready a while ago but we were both afraid of screwing up again."

"We know how much _stress_ it has put on you kids and we both were afraid . . . well, until yesterday morning. Your mom woke up demanding that we get married, right away," Holden laughed as he relived the memories. "She was tired of the dirty looks from Momma."

"You know how she is when someone is, you know, _living in sin_," Lily did not have to explain further to Luke and Noah. They had gotten a few _I'm getting the shotgun_ looks a few times themselves.

"And you know how impulsive the Walshs can be," Holden laughed.

"Yes, I do," Noah gave Holden a knowing look and winced in pain as he felt Luke's foot collide with his shin.

"One of the things that came to my mind was Vegas and Noah's suggestion of Elvis," Lily shook her head in disbelief.

"But you were so opposed to it, when I suggested it," Noah wanted to know why Lily chose Elvis.

"I couldn't believe I was even considering it. If we got married in Oakdale, we would have to wait a day and you know your Grandmother. She would find out and then it would have become a huge affair. Nothing seemed logical, other than Vegas and if we went to Vegas, well, you know."

"I thought she was crazy. We have done the traditional wedding more than once and going to Vegas would make the whole thing fast and easy. So we decided to just go for it," Holden laughed.

"We packed our bags, dropped the kids off at the farm, got on Mother's plane, and flew to Vegas," Lily was still trying to process the whole Vegas wedding adventure.

Luke and Noah sat there wide-eyed as they listened to the story. Luke felt the sudden urge to share his parents' story and sent a text.

"Our driver told us that the best place to get married was _Viva Las Vegas_. We didn't know any better, so we took his advice," Holden admitted. "We selected the _Elvis Hound Dog Wedding Package_. Why bother getting married by Elvis if he isn't going to sing to you." All four of them started laughing. "We ended up having to pay double, just to have _Elvis_ fit us into his busy schedule. We have a video of the wedding, we will have to show you later."

"Remember the fifty's party we went to last year at Al's?" Lily asked. Luke and Noah nodded. "Well, we wore that for the ceremony."

Holden started laughing. "I was more scared that we blended in with everyone, than of actually getting married again."

"When we told him it was our fourth time, he started to call me Liz," laughed Lily.

"He sung hunka-hunka _Burning Love_ to us," Luke and Noah could not help but laugh at Holden's facial expression. Holden pulled a camera out of his pocket, turned it on, and handed it to Luke. "The couple behind us took a few shots for us."

Luke and Noah looked at the pictures, as Lily continued the wedding tale.

"We stayed at _The Venetian_ last night. We went on a gondola ride. The gondolier sang to us, which was romantic," Lily smiled at Holden. "But we decided to come out here to see you and spend the week."

"So someone knows you are here?" asked Luke.

"We told Jack. He's going to do the chores for the week," Holden smiled at the thought of not having to get up early all week.

"Grandmother is going to kill him," Luke sighed. "She called all over to find out where you guys went to."

Noah laughed. "She was on the phone with us when we got your text. She said to thank you for shortening her already limited lifespan."

"It was our pleasure," winked Holden.

"Holden!" Lily scoffed.

Luke's phone beeped. He looked at the message and broke into a fit of laughter. "It's from Casey. I sent him your picture and he texted back _ur rents r awsum. Wish mine were_." Everyone laughed at Casey's response. "You have Casey's approval, so everything is fine."

Lily looked at Holden. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not." Laughter flowed around the table.

Lu, rubbing his eyes, woke up from the nap he took while sitting on his grandpa's lap. "Daddy, I'm hungry."

Noah looked at his watch. They had been sitting out on the patio for a few hours. "We'll be eating soon." As soon as Noah finished his sentence, the doorbell rang. Noah got up to get the door. Lu jumped off Holden and followed his dad.

"That must be Julie. She's going to make us a romantic dinner," Luke watched Lu follow Noah into the house.

"You didn't have to do that," Lily blushed.

"We wanted to do something special for you."

-P-

Noah opened the front door. "Julie, come on in."

"Thanks, Noah." She put down some bags on the floor.

"We are sorry for such short notice. I'm sure you are busy with other things," Noah followed Julie out and grabbed some things out of the catering van.

"Well, believe it or not, we are hosting a party but we over purchased for it, so you are saving us," Julie laughed.

"I'm glad we could help," Noah offered.

Noah, Julie, and Lu, with their arms full, walked into the house and into the kitchen.

"So, what are we having?" asked Noah.

Julie looked strangely at Noah. "Don't you know?"

"No, Luke never told me. I was out buying roses and batteries for candles for the bridal bedroom."

"Awww," a sweet smile spread across Julie's face. She put some containers in the refrigerator and started filling a big pot with water on the stove with the pot filler. "Well, we are having lobster, baked potatoes . . ." She took more items out of her bag, put them on the counter, and plugged them in and put a few things in the oven. ". . . coleslaw, biscuits, with some shrimp for an appetizer and we have flan for dessert. I do have a piece of cake for Lu, if he doesn't like flan."

"Wow, what a feast. I'm not sure if he likes flan but I know we do," Noah smiled at her.

"Speaking of lobster, take a look at the size of these things," Julie pulled the creature out of her bag.

"Wow, that is big!" Noah was astonished by the size.

Lu turned around and looked at the lobster. "AAAAHHHHHH," he started screaming at the top of his lungs. He turned around and ran out of the kitchen as fast as his little legs could carry him. Noah and Julie laughed as they watched Lu running out towards the patio where Luke was sitting with his parents.

"I'm glad I brought fish sticks with me," Julie put the lobster back in her bag. "Come on, we better find out if he's okay. I want to congratulate the newlyweds anyway."

"They are out with Carmen."

Julie looked quizzically at Noah. "Carmen?"

"Oh, you don't know about Carmen?"

They were already out on the patio, walking up to the table where Lu was holding onto Luke like his life depended on it.

"There's a monster in the chitchen!" Lu wailed as he shook in Luke's arms.

"Don't worry baby, we won't let it get you," Luke was wondering what scared him so bad.

Lily and Holden look strangely at Luke and Lu, wondering what monster they could be talking about.

Julie walked right up to Holden and Lily. "Well, I hear congratulations . . . ," she stopped cold when she saw a baby in Lily's arms. "Is this Carmen?"

Lily looked over at Julie. "Oh Julie, yes, this is my granddaughter."

"We adopted her the day after our wedding," Noah added.

"I didn't know that. Well, isn't she a cutie," Julie ran her finger under Carmen's chin. "Luke told me about you two. I'd love to talk to you but I have to start dinner."

"Well, if you don't mind, we will come in while you cook. We've been out here all afternoon," smiled Lily.

"No, I don't mind," Julie was happy to talk with Lily and Holden. It usually wasn't her policy to be so friendly with her clients but something just seemed to click with the Snyders.

Noah walked over to Luke. He knelt down in front of their chair and started stroking Lu's hair. "Do you know what that was?"

"Monster," Lu wailed.

Noah waited for his son to calm down a little. "It's a lobster. It is a type of fish. Miss Julie is going to cook some for dinner."

Lu moved his head off Luke's shoulder and looked at Noah. "It's not Larry is it?" He figured out Larry the Lobster and the monster were the same thing.

"No, it's not Larry. Our lobster didn't have blue swim trunks on, did it?" Noah watched his little boy shake his head side to side.

Everyone could see the wheels turning in Lu's head. "Will it hurt me?" If it was not Larry, who was nice, then maybe it was a mean lobster.

"Well, they can pinch you with their claws," he knew he said the wrong thing when Lu's head moved back into Luke's neck. "But we will make sure they don't hurt you."

"Do you remember the soup we ate at Uncle Tony's restaurant? When the bread was the bowl?" Luke softly asked his son.

"Ye-e-a-ah," Lu furrowed his eyebrows as he remembered.

Luke, along with Noah, smiled at their son. "Remember how you poked a hole in the bread and all the liquid went all over the table?" Luke laughed at the memory. "That was lobster bisque."

Lu picked his head up off of Luke's shoulder and asked with curiosity in his eyes. "It was?"

"It looks a lot different now, doesn't it?" Luke hoped Lu would agree.

Lu moved his head up and down.

"Well, how about we go in and take another look?" Noah hoped to alleviate Lu's fear of lobsters. They lived on the ocean were seafood was prevalent. He did not want to get Lu off on the wrong foot.

Lu's eyes opened wide. He cautiously jumped off Luke's knee, grabbed Julie and Noah's hand and started walking towards the house. He started peppering them with questions to make sure it was not Larry or his family. The last thing they heard was Lu asking them to make sure it wasn't Mable or Dennis or Old Man Jenkins or . . . .

"I said it once and I'll say it again. You handled that well," Lily was proud of him and Noah being such great parents.

"He's probably in there peppering them with a thousand questions," Luke laughed.

Luke, Holden and Lily still holding the baby, got up and walked into the house to visit with Julie.

-P-

The lobsters were so big, they decided to keep extras for a shrimp and lobster caesar salad for the next day's lunch. Julie made a quick garlic marinade and the Caesar dressing as she waited for the dinner to finish cooking. With dinner about ready, Holden, who had been holding Carmen, put her down in a bassinet by the table. Luke and Noah set the outdoor table with the fine china and candles. Noah put a pitcher of iced tea and a bottle of sparkling cider in the outdoor refrigerator.

When they sat down for dinner, Lily and Holden were placed at the table so they could look out at the ocean and enjoy the view.

"Can Granpa go camp with us?"

Holden was surprised by Lu's question. "Camping?"

"Lu wants to go camping, so we are going to setup a tent over by the fire pit tomorrow night. We plan to make s'mores over the pit."

"Sounds like fun," Holden smiled.

"Joe and Abby are coming over tomorrow evening. Abby is going to watch Carmen while Joe is camping with us."

Holden looked at Luke. "How are you feeling about this?"

"It's the first time since, well, you know, but it is time to get rid of that fear," Luke expelled the heavy breath he was holding.

"Good," Lily petted her son's hand and changed the subject. "I'm so glad we only decided to have the tails, I don't think I could have eaten the whole lobster."

"We should have plenty for lunch. I figure Joe and Abby will show up around ten o'clock. She isn't going to miss the opportunity to spend the day at the beach," Luke laughed. Everyone knew he was right.

When dinner was finished, they took their plates into the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher. Julie had already cleaned up and left. They took the flan out to the table. Lu did not like it, so the piece of cake Julie brought came in handy. Holden, although, would have preferred the chocolate cake that Lu had. The flan was just a little too rich for his taste.

-P-

After dessert, everyone took a walk down the beach. Lu was looking at all the seashells that washed up on the beach while Carmen was sleeping in the carrier sling wrapped around Noah. They met several of their neighbors, who were also enjoying the beautiful evening.

After they turned back to walk back to the house, Lily suddenly smiled. "Remind me to thank Abby tomorrow."

"What for?"

"Well, if it wasn't for her bringing up this place, we would have never known about it. Look at what we would be missing."

"Yeah, I was a little hesitant about moving away from the apartment but it worked out great," Noah pulled Luke into a one arm hug as they continued to walk. "I get to come home every day to a beautiful house on the beach, a wonderful husband and two great kids. I'm not sure what I did to be so lucky."

Luke smiled, leaned over, and kissed his husband. "Your heart is pure and kind, Noah. You are the best husband and a great father. That's what you did to deserve this."

"The same can be said about you, Luke," Noah smiled back at his husband.

Lily and Holden just smiled at the lovebirds as they walked besides them, in the same manner.

-P-

Lily and Holden helped put Carmen and then Lu to bed but not before a goodnight story. Around nine-thirty, they all decided it was time to go to bed. They locked up the house, turned on the alarm system, and then headed towards the bedrooms. They stopped in front of Lily and Holden's room and exchanged hugs. When Lily opened the door, she gasped as the scent of the roses hit her. The flickering lights of the battery-powered candles positioned all over the room, gently illuminated the vases of flowers, and rose petals all over the floor, furniture, and the bed.

"It's so beautiful," Lily brushed away a stray tear falling down her face.

"Noah did this for our honeymoon. We figured you would appreciate it."

"Yes, we do," Holden turned to Luke and Noah. "Now, go to bed and leave us alone."

"Just like when I was a kid," giggled Luke.

Lily entered the room and started to smell the roses in the vases. Holden followed her into the room. Luke and Noah watched them look around for a minute, said their goodnights, and walked down to their room.

"I think we could find something to do ourselves," winked Noah.

Luke opened the door to their room, only to be hit with the same scent of roses and flickering candles as his parent's room. "Noah!" Luke gasped.

Noah snaked his arms around his husbands waist as he walked up behind him. "I figured we could see who makes more noise, your parents, or us."

"Okay. I'm grossed out by that but if you can get that image out of my head . . ."

Noah twirled Luke around to face him and planted a big kiss on his lips, as he started unbuttoning Luke's stripped shirt. "I can totally make you forget."

"About what?" Luke wispily asked as he allowed passion to take over.

-P-

The End.


End file.
